The 2011 CWAS AstroFest "The David Malin Awards"

In July 2011, the Central West Astronomical Society's astrophotography competition was held again as part of the CWAS AstroFest. Amateur astronomers and photographers from around Australia were invited to take part in the exhibition and to submit their astrophotographs for consideration in the prestigious "David Malin Awards". Click here to view the highlights video of the 2011 CWAS AstroFest. This year's competition had seven categories and a discretionary Innovation award: Deep Sky Wide-Field Solar System - Hires (< 30') Solar System - Wide-Field (> 30') Animated Sequences Themed Section - "Australia Beneath the Stars" Junior (< 16 yo) and the Innovation Award The photographs were judged by world-renowned astrophotographer, Dr David Malin, without David being aware of the identity of the photographers. The winners were presented with the "David Malin Awards" in the presence of invited dignitaries, during the CWAS AstroFest conference dinner on 16 July 2011. It was not just technical skill that was awarded. The prizes went to pictures that captured the beauty of the sky and the intrinsic interest of astronomy in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Canon Australia supported the competition with prizes to the value of over $7,800. Last year's exhibitions were a resounding success. The two parallel exhibitions were viewed by 180,455 people Australia-wide. This year's permanent exhibition will be on show at the CSIRO Parkes Observatory's Visitor's Centre from August 2011 to July 2012. A second touring exhibition, organised by the Powerhouse Museum, will travel to selected venues, beginning with Sydney Observatory on 12 August 2011. The 2011 Touring Exhibition: Venues and Dates VENUE DATE Sydney Observatory, NSW 12 August - 11 October 2011 The Wollongong Planetarium 20 October - 29 November 2011 Scienceworks, Melbourne 12 December 2011 - 1 April 2012 Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium, Brisbane 13 April 2012 - 24 May 2012 The Science Exchange, Adelaide 4 June 2012 - 15 July 2012 A record number of entries were received this year. To have received any one of these awards is a great honour. Congratulations!

The Competition - Category Winners

© Geoffrey Wyatt

Winner: Geoffrey Wyatt Theme: "Australia Beneath the Stars" OVERALL WINNER "Curves" Citation: "A very strong composition that combines several curved elements, including the rim and terminator of the Moon, and yet remains unmistakably Australian." Details: Canon EOS 550D with a Tamron 270mm Zoom lens @ F6.3 with 3.2 seconds exposure. Location: Mrs Macquarie's Chair.

© Gary Hill

Winner: Gary Hill Wide-Field "The Southern Milky Way" Citation: "The wide and very detailed view of the Southern Milky Way is very beautiful, with delicate colours where appropriate and multitudes of very tiny stars." Details: A Mosaic of 3 images, with each a stack of 15 x 4 minute exposures at ISO 1000 with a Astro modded Canon 40D and 50mm f/1.4 lens @ f/4.5. Mosaic stitched and processed in Adobe Photoshop CS.

© Phil Hart

Winner: Phil Hart Deep Sky "The Horse Head and Flame Nebula" Citation: "I especially liked the way the picture hits you in the eye by being bright where it needs to be bright and at the same time shows excellent shadow detail." Details: Taken with Takahashi Epsilon 160 (530mm f3.3) QHY9 CCD camera. Luminance: 46 x 5 min. RGB: 11 each x 5 min. Total Exposure: 6.6 hours over two nights

© Peter Ward

Winner: Peter Ward Solar System - Hires "May Seventh Sun" Citation: "This stunning image shows the Sun in the H-alpha light of hydrogen, and is a mosaic of 30 fields, about 350 stacked frames per field, or over 10,500 frames altogether." Details: A 155mm aperture, F7 refractor and planetary camera were used to acquire the image data, which was stacked using .AVI stack and later processed in Photoshop. Total computing time was approximately 6 hours prior to data assembly.

© Christopher Thomas

Winner: Christopher Thomas Solar System - Wide-Field "Time is of the Essence" Citation: "Well, I would say that a bit of luck was also an essential ingredient." Details: Vixen ED103 Refractor. Canon 450D Camera. 1/250th second exposure at ISO 200.

© Lara O'Brien

Encouragement Award: Lara O'Brien Junior "Lunar Eclipse 16/6/11" Citation: "I think this is the youngest entrant we have had and she deserves a prize for encouragement." Details: "I am 12 and I took these pictures on Mum's Canon DSLR with a 300mm lens. I took lots of pictures with different shutter speeds then the best ones are copied and pasted onto a base picture using paintshop pro."

The Competition - Honorable Mentions

© Marcus Davies	© Max Kilmister	© Paul Haese
"Shield of Centaur" Marcus Davies	"Abstract Art? IC 4603/4604" Max Kilmister	"M42, the Orion Nebula" Paul Haese

© Greg Bradley	© Greg Bradley
"The Small Magellanic Cloud" Greg Bradley	"Inside Barnard's Loop" Greg Bradley

© Paul Haese	© Paul Haese
"The Return of the SEB" Paul Haese	"Dragon Storm" Paul Haese

© Phil Hart	© Robert Kaufman
"Twilight Earthshine at Lake Eppalock" Phil Hart	"Total Solar Eclipse, 11 July 2010" Robert Kaufman

© Peter Ward	© Alex Cherney
"Moonlit Uluru under the stars" Peter Ward	"Galactic Dish" Alex Cherney

© Peter Ward

"Dreamtime Eclipse" Peter Ward

Animated Sequences

© Alex Cherney

"Outback Reflections" (14.5 MB .MOV file) Alex Cherney

© Phil Hart	© Phil Hart
"Spinning Tree" (10.1MB .MOV file) Phil Hart	"Lake Eppalock Timelapse" (5MB .MOV file) Phil Hart

The Presentation Ceremony - 16 July 2011

Click here to view the highlights video of the 2011 CWAS AstroFest. The winners were presented with the awards by Dr David Malin himself, in the presence of invited dignitaries, during the CWAS AstroFest dinner on July 16, 2011. The dignitaries included the Mayor of Parkes, Cr Ken Keith; Dr Phil Diamond, Director of CSIRO's Astronomy and Space Science (CASS); Dr Miriam Baltuck, Director of the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CASS); Mr Alan Brightman of Canon Australia; and Laurence Crowley, President of the CWAS. The award winners represented entries from across Australia (NSW, Qld, Vic, SA and ACT). Congratulations to them all. The overall winner of the 2011 CWAS "David Malin Awards" was Geoffrey Wyatt of Sydney, NSW, for his beautifully composed and complex image of the crescent Moon above the iconic curves of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. The quality of the images was of an incredibly high standard and a testament to the great skill and talent of Australian astrophotographers. The very finest images will be exhibited in two parallel exhibitions, beginning with Sydney Observatory in August. Last year's exhibitions were a resounding success, with over 150,000 people viewing the exhibitions Australia-wide. The competition was proudly supported by Canon Australia, who provided prizes to the value of over $7,800. Each of the category winners received a Canon PowerShot G12 digital camera (RRP $799). The honorable mentions received a Canon IXUS 220 HS digital camera (RRP $319). The Presentations at the Comfort Inn, The Parkes International Hotel © Denis Crute © Denis Crute © Denis Crute © Denis Crute © Brad Le Brocque © Denis Crute The welcoming remarks by CWAS Secretary, John Sarkissian, and Dr David Malin. The Galileo Trophy and Canon Prizes waiting to be presented. © Brad Le Brocque © Denis Crute © John Sarkissian The Award Winners © John Sarkissian All of the 2011 "David Malin Awards" Winners. (Back Row L-R): Marcus Davies, Humayun Qureshi, David Malin, Geoff Wyatt, Phil Hart, Peter Ward, Alex Cherney. (Front Row L-R): Gary Hill, Geoff Sims, Wayne England, Greg Bradley. Not Present: Lara O'Brien, Max Kilmister, Paul Haese, Robert Kaufman, Eddie Trimarchi, Steve Crouch and Christopher Thomas. © John Sarkissian © John Sarkissian The category award winners with Dr David Malin. (L-R): Gary Hill, David Malin, Geoff Wyatt, Phil Hart and Peter Ward. Absent: Christopher Thomas. The winners receiving their awards © Brad Le Brocque © Brad Le Brocque © Brad Le Brocque Phil Hart Peter Ward Gary Hill © Brad Le Brocque © Brad Le Brocque © Denis Crute Alex Cherney Greg Bradley Geoff Sims © Brad Le Brocque © Brad Le Brocque © Denis Crute Humayun Qureshi Marcus Davies Wayne England © Brad Le Brocque Geoff Wyatt David Malin presented Geoffrey Wyatt with the Perpetual Trophy as the OVERALL WINNER © Brad Le Brocque © Denis Crute © Brad Le Brocque Geoff Wyatt Overall Winner CONGRATULATIONS GEOFF © John Sarkissian © John Sarkissian With David Malin With his Proud Parents Canon Australia Prizes Mr Alan Brightman, representing Canon Australia, presented prizes to the award winners, in recognition by Canon Australia of the excellence that was judged by Dr David Malin in their work. The Category Winners each received a prize of a Canon PowerShot G12 digital camera (RRP $799). The Honorable Mentions each received a Canon IXUS 220 HS digital camera (RRP $319). © John Sarkissian With Alan Brightman from Canon Australia Congratulations to all the winners! Start preparing your astrophotos for the 2012 CWAS "David Malin Awards", and share with the wider public your enthusiasm for the grandeur and beauty of astronomy. The 2011 CWAS "David Malin Awards" was proudly supported by Canon Australia and Parkes Shire Council Comments and Enquiries: John Sarkissian of the AstroFest Organising Committee