***RASC Halifax Centre Astroimaging Contest & People's* Choice *Award***

Want to shine like a star? Gain galactic bragging rights? Burst with pride like a bolide? Enter your hard-won astro-images in the Astroimaging Contest! Here’s all the info you need to generate your own solar radiance.

As of April 2019, the Astroimaging Contest, formerly only within the purview of Nova East, is now a Halifax Centre contest thereby opening it to more than Nova East registrants. Astrophoto submissions from past years are available for viewing below.

Who Can Submit to the Contest:

Submissions will be accepted from any RASC Halifax Centre member and any person currently residing in Nova Scotia.

Important Note:

By submitting a photo to the Halifax Centre Astroimaging Contest, the photographer has given permission for use on the RASC Halifax Centre website, the RASC Halifax Centre publication Nova Notes, and display at Halifax Members’ Meetings, and on the prize sponsor’s website and social media. If the photo is to be used for any other purpose, the photographer’s permission must be requested specifically for that purpose.

Deadline for Submission to the Contest:

The deadline for submission is midnight Saturday, November 13, 2021. This would allow for distribution to the adjudicators and for any arrangements that would be necessary regarding the awards presentations at the Centre's Annual General Meeting (AGM) on December 4, 2021.

***Contest* *Categories:***

The Nova East Astroimaging Contest has three categories:
1.     Wide Field (WF)
2.     Solar System (SS)
3.     Deep-Sky/Prime Focus (DS)

Image Description Guidelines:

Provide a single text file with the image description(s) separate from the images. The information provided will be used when posting the photos (except the photographer’s name prior to the winners being announced). Each description should be a single text block with:
·      Photographer’s name
·      Image Title
·      What the object is
·      Pertinent details
·      Capture details: location, time, camera make, camera settings, lens, mount, total exposure time, focal ratio, processing steps, etc.

Image Guidelines & Submission:

The photo submitted may be in colour or black and white. No composite photos are allowed; however, stacked photographs are allowed. Each person may submit two entries per category. However, each person may win only once per category for which they submitted photos, i.e., they cannot win both 1st and 2nd prize in a category.

Images should be in JPEG format, 2,400 pixels wide, and should not have text (such as labels, copyright notices or other information) imprinted on them. Images should not be embedded in a presentation format.
Some composites (for example, those with foregrounds shot from a different location and/or date than the sky portion) are not eligible, however, nightscape images and photos consisting of stitched mosaics and panoramas are allowed.

All images must be captured using equipment you personally set up and operated.

The File Name format: category + image Title + file extension. Please do not include your name or initials in the naming of the file. For example:
·      WF Yarmouth Milky Way.jpg
·      SS Moon crater Plato.jpg
·      DS M101.jpg

Images are to be emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Include your full name and address in your email with the JPEG of your photo. Use the naming format and the image description cited above.

People's Choice Award

Thanks to the work of Melody Hamilton, the People's Choice Award was established as part of the Nova East Astroimaging Contest in 2018. The winner was determined by fellow Nova East registrants voting for their favourite photo of all those submitted to the contest. Fellow astronomers and their families got to acknowledge amateur photographers and their work.

Given Nova East 2021 is a speaker series utilizing Zoom for attendance, the mechanism for voting for this award during COVID-19 restrictions was changed. RASC Halifax members may vote for their People's Choice favourite through a SurveyMonkey survey to be emailed separately. The winner of the 2021 People's Choice Award will be announced at the RASC Halifax Centre Annual General Meeting (AGM) on December 4 , 2021.

Prizes:

The Astroimaging Contest prizes will be determined each year in conjunction with the contest sponsors. The People's Choice Award is To Be Determined.

Announcement of Winners

Astroimaging Contest : All photos submitted were judged for their technical merit as well as their composition, visual interest, and artistic merit.

People's Choice Award: Voting of members and contest participants via Survey Monkey determine the winner of this award.

Winners will be announced at the December 4, 2021 Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Winners will be notified by email regarding their win. Once all winners are notified, the winners were announced on the RASC Halifax Centre website, through the RASC Halifax Centre Announce List, at the December Members' Meeting, and on the sponsor’s website and social media.

2021 Astroimaging Contest Entries

(Photos are the copyrighted property of the photographers. Permission to use any of their photos for other purposes must be obtained from the photographer.)

These photos (1 - 24) are this year's entries. RASC Halifax members may vote for their People's Choice favourite through a SurveyMonkey survey to be emailed separately. Note: with some internet browsers, hovering over the photo with your cursor will display the photo details. You may also be able to right-click on an image and view it in a separate window to see a larger version. If necessary, the files were reduced in JPEG quality to meet a 2M file upload limit (which might be noticeable if you view a zoomed image). The judges have access to the original submitted images. Note: SS_02 was recategorized to WF_09.

DS_02 Andromeda Galaxy - Andromeda Galaxy Jason Dain Winner Deep Sky

SS_01 ISS Solar Transit - Jason Dain Winner Solar System

WF_01 Milky Way and Moon - Jason Dain Wide Field Winner

WF_04 Touching the Cosmo - Chris Kelly Winner of the Peoples Choice Award

DS_01 North America Nebula from Halifax - John Read

DS_03 Heart of the Heart Nebula - Jason Dain

$DS_04 Orion Nebula What the object is: M42 Capture Details: I've imaged this target a number of times with different equipment. The other night after getting some color data on a different target, I decided to shoot some additional data on M42. This is the 4 hrs (300s subs, gain 100) I shot late last fall plus the 4 hrs I collected the other night from my backyard. I used my Esprit 100 refractor, ASI2600MC pro camera on my Skywatcher Eq6R pro mount all controlled by an ASIAIR Pro. No filters were used and the data was processed in Pixinsight.$ DS_04 Orion Nebula - Jason Dain

DS_05 Andromeda Galaxy - Chris Kelly

DS_06 Messier 42, the Great Orion Nebula - Kathy Walker

DS_07 Messier 8, the Lagoon Nebula - Kathy Walker

DS_08 The Pacman Nebula (NGC 281) - David Hoskin

$DS_09 Sharpless 157 et al. The Lobster Claw Nebula (Sharpless 157) and other DSOs. • The Lobster Claw Nebula is an emission nebula located in the constellation Cassiopeia. This widefield image also contains the Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635), and the Northern Lagoon Nebula (NGC 7538), which are bright emission nebulae, as well as V1405 Nova Cas 2021 and the open star clusters Messier 52 and NGC 7510. • Captured 28 July 2021 and 31 July 2021 at Halifax, NS. Equipment consisted of a William Optics RedCat 51 f/4.9 apochromatic refractor, SkyWatcher EQ6R Pro mount (PHD2-guided using a 30mm f/4 guide scope) and a ZWO ASI533MC Pro CMOS camera with an L-eNhance filter or an IR/UV cut filter. SharpCap (gain 110, RAW16/FITS format) was used to capture 7-minute lights and calibration frames using the L-eNhance filter for narrow-band data. SharpCap (gain 110, RAW16/FITS format) was used to capture 3-minute lights and calibration frames using the UV/IR cut filter for star color. ImagesPlus was used to debayer and stack 54 7-minute subs, 20 darks, 40 flats, 40 dark flats, and 40 bias frames. ImagesPlus was also used to debayer and stack 60 3-minute subs, 20 darks, 40 flats, 40 dark flats, and 40 bias frames. SiriL was used for photometric color calibration of RGB data. Photoshop CS2 with Astronomy Tools Action Set was used to adjust levels, stretch data, increase saturation, and remove noise. StarNet++ was also used during post processing. Photoshop CS2 was used to combine narrow-band and RGB images. ImagesPlus was used for star reduction. Microsoft Photo was used to tweak clarity, contrast, highlights, and shadows in the final image.$ DS_09 Sharpless 157 et al. - David Hoskin