The 2012 CWAS AstroFest

"The David Malin Awards"


In July 2012, 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".

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 - "Symmetries"
  • Junior (< 18 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 14 July 2012.

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 $13,500.

New to this year's competition was the Photo Editor's Award. Mr Steve Grove, the News Ltd. Photographic Manager, judged the photographs and gave his pick from each category. His overall winner was awarded the Photo Editor's Choice Award.

Last year's exhibitions were a resounding success. The two parallel exhibitions were viewed by 240,000 people Australia-wide.

This year's permanent exhibition will be on show at the CSIRO Parkes Observatory's Visitor's Centre from August 2012 to July 2013. A second touring exhibition, organised by the Powerhouse Museum, will travel to selected venues, beginning with Sydney Observatory on 17 August 2012.


The 2012 Touring Exhibition: Venues and Dates

VENUEDATE
Sydney Observatory, NSW17 August 2012 - 29 October 2012
Museum of Tropical Queensland12 November 2012 - 3 December 2012
Scienceworks, Melbourne17 December 2013 - 3 February 2013
The Science Centre & Planetarium, Wollongong11 February 2013 - 29 March 2013
Perth Observatory1 April 2013 - 24 May 2013
TBC AdelaideJune 2013 - 12 July 2013


A record number of entrants submitted their photographs for judging. To have received any one of these awards is a great honour. Congratulations!




The Competition - Category Winners



© Phil Hart
Winner: Phil Hart
Solar System: Wide-Field

OVERALL WINNER "Melbourne Moon"

Citation: "A busy but very interesting shot of the Williamstown dockyards dominated by a full moon, all of it pervaded by a mistiness that adds colour and softens an industrial subject. It is a strong, eye-catching image."

Details: 12th November, 2011 from Williamstown, Melbourne.
Taken with a Canon 5D MarkII DSLR, with a 300mm lens and 1.4x teleconverter.
HDR composite (1/4, 0.8 & 2.5 second exposures), F8 and ISO 100




© Martin Pugh
Winner: Martin Pugh
Deep Sky

"IC5067"

Citation: "It shows excellent resolution and a strong composition."

Details: A nebula in the constellation of Cygnus. A Planewave 17" CDK f6.8 telescope was used with an Apogee U16M camera and Astrodon filters.
Exposures:Ha: 5.5hrs, SII: 5.5hrs OIII: 7hrs 50minutes (total 18 hours 50 minutes)




© Alex Cherney
Winner: Alex Cherney
Wide-Field

"Speared Emu"

Citation: "The dark, curved, suggestive rocks in the foreground contrast strongly with the delicately luminous tail of the comet. Fabulous composition!"

Details: Image of Comet Lovejoy taken on 24 December 2011 from Cape Shanck, Vic. The part of the Milky Way between Crux and Scorpius was seen as a Giant Emu by many aboriginal groups across Australia. The comet appears like a "spear" in the body of the giant Emu. Taken with a Nikon D700 DSLR camera and Nikkor 14-24mm lens and ISO 3200. A stack of 7 frames. Processed with Nikon Capture NX2 and Photoshop CS5.




© Peter Ward
Winner: Peter Ward
Solar System - Hires

"King of Pain"

Citation: "This is a superb image. The lyrics of the song "King of Pain" by the Police, apparently have the line "There's a little black dot on the Sun today" "

Details: A high resolution view of Venus against the sun in Hydrogen Alpha light on 6 June 2012. An Astro-Physics AP130 refractor telescope, Baader FFC and Coronado H-alpha filter were used with a Skynyx 2-2 camera to combine the best of 1500 frames to capture Venus against the Sun.




© Trent McDougalls
Winner: Trent McDougall
Theme - "Symmetries"

"Partially Lunar over Luna"

Citation: "The image displays symmetry in terms of a literal sense rather than visual."

Details: The Moon over Luna Park. Photographed from Balmain with a Canon 1000d DSLR camera with a 300mm Canon lens at F6.3, with ISO 800.




© Nathan Coleman
Winner: Nathan Coleman
Junior

"NGC 5128: Centaurus A"

Citation: "The stars are round and nicely coloured. I'm impressed that Nathan has got his head around the challenging software."

Details: The radio galaxy, Centaurus A (also known as NGC 5128) is a prominent galaxy in the constellation of Centaurus. Taken with a modified Canon 350D camera on a 8-inch F4 Newtonian Telescope on a EQ5 mount. A stack of 164 x 2.5 minute exposures. Processed with Deep Sky Stacker and Pixinsight Demo.





© Colin Legg
Winner: Colin Legg
Animated Sequences

"Nocturnal"

Citation: "The sequence includes the lot. To top it off there is a beautiful lunar eclipse and a fine rising pan at the end."

Details: A beautiful twilight, a variety of moonset and moonrises Orographic clouds, the Southern Cross rising majestically with star colours intact, Comet Lovejoy, the decaying debris trail from a meteor, distant lightning on the horizon, a green sky, the Magellanic Clouds, the Milky Way, amazing projections of the Bungle Bungles and some very elegant and well thought out tracking and panning movements!


The News Ltd. Photo Editor's Choice


© Alex Cherney
Winner: Alex Cherney
Photo Editor's Choice

"Crown Jewels above Lake Tekapo"

Details: A panoramic image taken at Lake Tekapo, New Zealand, after the sunset with the zodiacal light visible. Taken with an astronomically modified Sony NEX-5 camera and Nikkor 10.5mm fish-eye lens at f/2.8 and ISO 3200. Six 15-second exposures were taken and stitched together to produce the 360 degree spherical panorama, which was then mapped to a rectangular image. Panoramic processing was done with PTGUI Pro software, further processing in Adobe Photoshop CS5.




The Competition - Honorable Mentions

Deep Sky

[ Click here to view ALL of the Deep Sky images ]



© Martin Pugh

© Martin Pugh
"Eastern Veil Nebula"
Martin Pugh
Photo Editor's Pick
"Vela SNR (Portion)"
Martin Pugh


© Phil Hart

© Jason Jennings
"Pleiades"
Phil Hart
"Night Market"
Jason Jennings



Wide-Field

[ Click here to view ALL of the Wide-Field images ]



© Greg Bradley

© Mike Salway
"The Blue Horsehead to Rho Ophiuchi"
Greg Bradley
"Road to the Milky Way"
Mike Salway


© Gary Hill

© Stephen Mudge

© Zane Hammond
"Antares Region"
Gary Hill
"Star Trails over Lake Wivenhoe"
Stephen Mudge
Photo Editor's Pick
"Pinnacles Desert Starscape 1"
Zane Hammond



Solar System - Hires

[ Click here to view ALL of the SS-Hires images ]



© Anthony Wesley

© Peter Ward
"Jupiter from Exmouth, WA"
Anthony Wesley
"Venus Transit in Hydrogen Alpha Light"
Peter Ward


© Paul Haese

© Paul Haese
"The Transit of Venus"
Paul Haese
"Cycle 24"
Paul Haese
Photo Editor's Pick



Solar System - Wide-Field

[ Click here to view ALL of the SS-WF images ]



© Wayne England

© Phil Hart

© Geoff Sims

"Santa's Sleigh Trail!"
Wayne England
Photo Editor's Pick
"Lovejoy's Tail"
Phil Hart
"Totality over
Tikahana Motu"
Geoff Sims



Theme - "Symmetries"

[ Click here to view ALL of the Theme images ]



© Wayne England

© Grahame Kelaher
"Moonlight Reflections"
Wayne England
"Bright Night"
Grahame Kelaher


© Geoffrey Wyatt

© Richard Tonello
"Equinoctial Twins"
Geoffrey Wyatt
"Emu Crossing"
Richard Tonello


© Alex Cherney
"Crown Jewels above Lake Tekapo"
Alex Cherney
Photo Editor's Choice Winner



Junior

[ Click here to view ALL of the Junior images ]



© Stephanie Hough

© Nathan Coleman
"Super Moon Cruise"
Stephanie Hough
"NGC 3372 - The Great Nebula in Carina"
Nathan Coleman
Photo Editor's Pick



Animated Sequences


© Phil Hart
"The Venus and Jupiter Show"
Phil Hart


© David Hough
"Transit of Venus in White Light and Hydrogen Alpha"
David Hough


© Alex Cherney
"Starlit Silhouettes"
Alex Cherney


© David Hough
"Red Aurora Australis"
Alex Cherney


© Greg Priestley
"Comet Lovejoy and ISS"
Greg Priestley



The Presentation Ceremony - 14 July 2012


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 14, 2012. The dignitaries included the Mayor of Parkes, Cr Ken Keith; Dr Nick Lomb, Curator of Astronomy at Sydney Observatory; Dr Lisa Harvey-Smith (CASS); Dr Marta Burgay (Cagliari Observatory, Italy); Mr Terry Lovejoy; Mr Alan Brightman of Canon Australia; and Alex Abbey, President of the CWAS.

The award winners represented entries from across Australia (NSW, Qld, Vic, SA, WA and ACT). Congratulations to them all.

The overall winner of the 2012 CWAS "David Malin Awards" was Phil Hart of Melbourne, Vic, for his beautiful image of the full Moon above the Williamstown Dockyards.

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 240,000 people viewing the exhibitions Australia-wide.

The competition was proudly supported by Canon Australia, who provided prizes to the value of over $13,500. The overall winner received a Canon 60Da DSLR camera (RRP $1,699). The other award recipients each received a Canon Powershot S100 digital camera (RRP $549).


The Presentations at the Comfort Inn, The Parkes International Hotel


© John Sarkissian

© John Sarkissian


© John Sarkissiane

© John Sarkissian


© Tony Trelford

The welcoming remarks by John Sarkissian.


The Galileo Trophies and Canon Prizes waiting to be presented.


© John Sarkissian

© John Sarkissian

© John Sarkissian




The Award Winners



© John Sarkissian

All of the 2012 "David Malin Awards" Winners.
(L-R): Wayne England, Nathan Coleman, Alex Cherney, Peter Ward, Dr David Malin, Phil Hart, Stephen Mudge, Greg Priestley, Anthony Wesley, Martin Pugh, Paul Haese, Greg Bradley, Trent McDougall.
Not Present: Jason Jennings, Mike Salway, Gary Hill, Zane Hammond, Geoff Sims, Grahame Kelaher, Geoffrey Wyatt, Richard Tonello, Stephanie Hough, David Hough and Colin Legg.



© John Sarkissian

The category winners with Dr David Malin.
(L-R): Nathan Coleman, Alex Cherney, Peter Ward,Phil HArt, Dr David Malin, Martin Pugh, Trent McDougall.
Not Present: Colin Legg.



The winners receiving their awards


© Tony Trelford

© Tony Trelford

© Tony Trelford
Phil HartPeter WardMartin Pugh



© Tony Trelford

© Tony Trelford

© Tony Trelford
Alex CherneyTrent McDougallNathan Coleman



© Tony Trelford

© Tony Trelford

© Tony Trelford
Wayne EnglandAnthony WesleyPaul Haese



© Tony Trelford

© Tony Trelford

© Denis Crute
Greg BradleyStephen MudgeGreg Priestley



© Tony Trelford
Alex Cherney
Editor's Choice Award


David Malin presented Phil Hart with the Perpetual Trophy as the OVERALL WINNER


© Tony Trelford

© Tony Trelford


CONGRATULATIONS PHIL


© John Sarkissian

© John Sarkissian

© John Sarkissian

Phil with the Galileo Statues




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 Overall Winner, Phil Hart, received a prize of a Canon 60Da DSLR camera (RRP $1,699).
The other award recipients each received a Canon Powershot S100 digital camera (RRP $549).


© John Sarkissian
With Alan Brightman from Canon Australia


Congratulations to all the winners!

Start preparing your astrophotos for the 2013 CWAS "David Malin Awards", and share with the wider public your enthusiasm for the grandeur and beauty of astronomy.


The 2012 CWAS "David Malin Awards" was proudly supported by Canon Australia and


Parkes Shire Council



Comments and Enquiries: John Sarkissian of the AstroFest Organising Committee