What: Total solar eclipse through clouds, and showing a faint ‘diamond ring’ effect along with purple prominences.
How: Nikon D5100 with Sigma 150–500 Lens and ND filter, cropped and processed in Lightroom
When: 14 November 2012
Where: Mossman, Queensland, Australia
Who: James Niland
What our judges said: “Eclipses provide special moments accessible to observers of all ages and technical ability. This image scored very highly for capturing the mood of ‘eclipse day’, with the clouds even adding to the atmosphere as a delicate diamond ring set between purple prominences shines through.”
Credits: J. Niland
Tags: ESA European Space Agency European Space Agency
© All Rights Reserved
What: The conjunction of Jupiter and its four large satellites with Earth’s Moon.
How: Canon 40D DSLR camera, 66 mm Baader Scopos telescope with F= 450 mm, plus processing to emphasise Jupiter’s moons. Two exposures were taken with just a few seconds delay to best capture the details of both the bright Moon and faint moons of Jupiter.
When: 2 November 2012
Where: Madrid, Spain
Who: Antonio Peña
What our judges said: “It is inspiring to present in one frame, a giant planet – 318 times the mass of Earth – and five moons, including our own, given the hundreds of millions of kilometres that separate Earth and Jupiter.”
Credits: A. Peña
Tags: ESA European Space Agency European Space Agency
© All Rights Reserved
What: The Milky Way, the central part of our own Galaxy.
How: Canon 60Da with Tokina 11-16 lens, 2.8 at 15 mm, f3.2; exposure time 20 seconds. The image is a vertical panoramic from three images edited from raw files in Camera Raw and Elements 9.
When: 16 October 2012
Where: Hunts Mesa, Monument Valley, Utah, USA
Who: Corneliu Brezeanu
What our judges said: “This image of the Milky Way rising like a flame into the night sky really captured the hearts of the judges.”
Credits: C. Brezeanu
Tags: ESA European Space Agency European Space Agency
© All Rights Reserved
What: Comet C/2012 P1 Garradd passing by globular cluster M9.2
How: The image is a composite of luminance data from a 16-inch RCOS with STL11000 CCD and colour information from a 10-inch ASA 10N Astrograph with STL11000 CCD. The images were processed in MaximDL and combined in Photoshop CS5
When: 3 February 2012
Where: Missouri and California, USA
Who: Gregg Ruppel and Paul Mortfield
What our judges said: “This composition not only shows two contrasting astronomical objects – an icy comet and its dust tail and a dense cluster of stars separated by huge astronomical distances – but also the combined efforts of two collaborating astronomers situated over 2000 km apart. We also enjoyed spotting distant background galaxies in the field of view!”
Credits: G. Ruppel and P. Mortfield
Tags: ESA European Space Agency European Space Agency
© All Rights Reserved
What: A green auroral curtain with the Pleiades (also known as the Seven Sisters) rising above the tree line.
How: Nikon D2xs 28 mm 2.8 fixed lens with an exposure time of 13 seconds, f2.8, ISO 800
When: 8 October 2012
Where: Canada
Who: James Baker
What our judges said: “The aurora looks particularly eerie in this shot with dark clouds punctuating it. We also liked the composition with a hint of a lake and the trees silhouetted against the sky. The appearance of the Pleiades just above the tree-line is a nice addition to the image.”
Credits: J. Baker
Tags: ESA European Space Agency European Space Agency
© All Rights Reserved