 | The 2009 CWAS AstroFest
"The David Malin Awards" |  |
|
In July 2009, the Central West Astronomical Society's astrophotography exhibition and 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". The exhibited photographs represent the very best of those received.
This year's competition had five sections - Amateur, Semi-Professional, Open, Junior and the Innovation Award. In addition, the Amateur section had three categories of entry: Wide-field (camera shots), Deep Sky (telescope shots) and Solar System.
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 18 July 2009.
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 $8,000.
The judged photographs were exhibited for the entire month of July in the CSIRO Parkes Observatory's Visitors Centre. A total of 17,182 people viewed it in July ONLY.
In the International Year of Astronomy, these prestigious awards are taking on a new and larger dimension. The exhibition will tour the country in two parallel exhibitions. In partnership with the Powerhouse Museum, the annual touring exhibition will travel to our regular venues. In addition, a second parallel exhibition will travel to regional areas across Australia, enabling significantly more venues and centres to become involved. This extension to the programme is being supported by the Australian Government and is funded with assistance from the Science Connections Program within the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research as a major activity of IYA2009.
The 2009 Touring Exhibition ONE: Venues and Dates
The 2009 Touring Exhibition TWO: Venues and Dates
| VENUE | DATE |
|---|
| Siding Spring Observatory, Coonabarabran, NSW. | 24 August - 13 September 2009 |
| Launceston Planetarium, Tasmania | 5 October - 30 October 2009 |
| Questacon, ACT | 16 November 2009 - 12 March 2010 |
| Royal Institution of Australia (RiAus), Adelaide, SA | 8 April - 31 May 2010 |
The 2008 exhibition was another phenomenal success. The exhibition was viewed by over 80,000 people at six venues, in FOUR States.
This year a near record number of entries were received. To have received any one of these awards, is a great honour. Congratulations!
|
The Competition - Category Winners
Photo Copyright: Gary Hill |
Winner: Gary Hill
Amateur: Wide-Field
OVERALL WINNER "LMC Wonders"
Citation: "This is a magnificent picture of the Large Magellanic Cloud. In many respects it is significantly better than a version of mine made with the plates of the UK Schmidt Telescope 20 years ago."
Details: Canon 20D camera with 200mm F2.8 lens@F3.2 A stack of 35 images of 3 min. each at ISO 800. Combined and calibrated in Deepskystacker and processed in Photoshop.
|
Photo Copyright: Marcus Davies |
Winner: Marcus Davies
Amateur: Deep Sky
"Crimson Flares - NGC 6188 & NGC 6164-5"
Citation: "This is an image of a little known part of the southern Milky Way. The finish is excellent."
Details: Takahashi 150mm refractor telescope at F5.5. Used an SBIG STL-11000M camera. LHaRGB image = 60, 120, 60, 60, 60 min. exposures. Processed using CCDStack and Photoshop.
|
Photo Copyright: Phil Hart |
Winner: Phil Hart
Amateur: Solar System
"A Timely Conjunction"
Citation: "This is a very unusual image in which the dominant feature is the clock tower. "
Details: Sale Clock Tower, East Gippsland, Vic. with Venus, Jupiter and the crescent Moon. Canon 20D with 200mm F2.8 lens @ F5.6. A four part mosaic, each 3 sec. @ ISO 200. |
Photo Copyright: Eddie Trimarchi |
Winner: Eddie Trimarchi
Semi-Professional
"The Southern Cross and Coalsack"
Citation: "It took me a second or two to recognise the field, but when I did I was very impressed with the amount of detail, which I have not seen in a single print before."
Details: A 15-part mosaic of 2-hour images. Takahashi FSQ106ED F3.7 telescope. 6MP QHY8 camera. Processed with CCDSTACK, PIXINSIGHT and Photoshop CS4. |
Photo Copyright: Terry Cuttle |
Winner: Terry Cuttle
Open Theme - "Twilight"
"Eclipse Over the Great Wall"
Citation: "The twilight sky is actually the edge of the Moon's shadow. The image includes Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn and the star Regulus, strung out across the sky"
Details: Total eclipse of 1 August 2008 at the Jiayuguan Fort. Tripod mounted Canon 450D with 10-22mm lens@16mm. Eight images ranging from 1/125th sec.@F8 to 1sec@F5.6 Processed using MaxDSLR, PhotmatrixPro3 and Photoshop
|
Photo Copyright: Fred Vanderhaven |
Winner: Fred Vanderhaven
The Innovation Prize
"Starless Lagoon Nebula, M8"
Citation: "When I first saw this I was intrigued. I recognised the object as the Hourglass nebula in M8 but I had not seen the beautiful texture before and I could not work out what had happened to the stars. It transpired that the stars had been removed manually.
While I am happy to go along with all kinds of software manipulations to improve the appearance of images, I cannot condone the manual removal of stars with the healing brush, which is probably an act of God, as would be adding stars to a composition. On the other hand Fred's image is very beautiful and worthy of our attention. I'd be pleased to hear other views about this."
Details: Meade LX200R at F10 & SBIG ST10XME camera. Processed with CCD Stack and Photoshop CS3. Continuum filter image was subtracted from the original to remove the stars. Left-over artefacts were healed out. HaRGB: Ha=11 hrs, RGB=1hr bin2 each.
|
The Competition - Honorable Mentions
Amateur: Wide-Field
Photo Copyright: Doug Robertson |
Photo Copyright: Phil Hart |
"Eta Carina Nebula"
Amateur: Wide-Field
Doug Robertson | "Bioluminescence and Star Trail"
Amateur: Wide-Field
Phil Hart |
Photo Copyright: Bill Christie |
Photo Copyright: Phil Hart |
"Milky Way: Trifid to the Table of Scorpius"
Amateur: Wide-Field
Bill Christie | "Southern Gum Nebula Complex"
Amateur: Wide-Field
Phil Hart |
Amateur: Deep Sky
Photo Copyright: Michael Sidonio |
Photo Copyright: Marcus Davies |
"Sarah's Nebula"
Amateur: Deep Sky
Michael Sidonio | "Galactic Camp Fire - NGC 4945"
Amateur: Deep Sky
Marcus Davies |
Photo Copyright: Darrin Nitschke |
Photo Copyright: Max Kilmister |
Photo Copyright: Max Kilmister |
"Markarian's Chain"
Amateur: Deep Sky
Darrin Nitschke | "Cosmic Dust - Reflection Nebula in Corona Australis"
Amateur: Deep Sky
Max Kilmister |
"Vela Supernova Remnant"
Amateur: Deep Sky
Max Kilmister |
Amateur: Solar System
Photo Copyright: Paul Haese |
Photo Copyright: Phil Hart |
"Jupiter and Callisto"
Amateur: Solar System
Paul Haese | "Comet Lulin N3"
Amateur: Solar System
Phil Hart |
Photo Copyright: David Hough |
Photo Copyright: Bill Christie |
"Ozone Eclipse - August 2007"
Amateur: Solar System
David Hough | "Lunar Eclipse Series - August 2007"
Amateur: Solar System
Bill Christie |
Open Theme - "Twilight"
Photo Copyright: Gary Hill |
Photo Copyright: Mike Salway |
"A Low Conjunction"
Open Theme
Gary Hill | "Smiley Face Conjunction"
Open Theme
Mike Salway |
Photo Copyright: Russell Cockman |
"Twilight Smiley Face"
Open Theme
Russell Cockman |
Semi-Professional
Photo Copyright: Peter Ward |
Photo Copyright: Peter Ward |
"6562 - The Horsehead Nebula"
Semi-Professional
Peter Ward | "The Rosette Nebula"
Semi-Professional
Peter Ward |
The Presentation Ceremony - 18 July 2009
|
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 18, 2009. The dignitaries included the Mayor of Parkes, Cr Ken Keith; Former Mayor, Robert Wilson; Dr Jill Tartar, Director of the SETI Institute; Dr Wayne Lee and Dr Erisa Hines of NASA's Altair Lander Project; Laurence Crowley, President of the CWAS; and Mr Alan Brightman of Canon Australia.
The award winners represented entries from across Australia (NSW, Qld, Vic. and SA.). Congratulations to them all.
The overall winner of the 2009 CWAS "David Malin Awards" was Gary Hill of Congarinni, NSW, for his beautiful image of the Large Magellanic Cloud.
The quality of the images was of an incredibly high standard and a testament to the great skill and talent of Australian astrophotographers. All of the entries submitted and received were exhibited at the CSIRO Parkes Observatory for the entire month of July, ensuring that every photograph was given a showing.
The very finest images will tour the country in two parallel travelling exhibitions, beginning with Sydney Observatory in August. Last year's touring exhibition was a resounding success, with 80,000 people viewing the exhibition. Many more are expected to view this year's exhibitions.
The competition was proudly supported by Canon Australia, who provided prizes to the value of over $8,000. Each of the category winners received a Canon PowerShot G10 digital camera (RRP $899). The honorable mentions received a Canon IXUS 80IS digital camera (RRP $329).
The Presentation at the Comfort Inn, Parkes International Restaurant
Photo Copyright: Tony Trelford |
Photo Copyright: Denis Crute |
The Galileos waiting to be presented.
Photo Copyright: Michael Grimshaw |
Photo Copyright: Michael Grimshaw |
The Previous Overall Winners.
Beginning in 2007, the overall winners of the "David Malin Awards" have been presented with trophy busts of Galileo. Unfortunately, the first three overall winners had missed out on receiving this prized trophy. As a gesture of goodwill, in the International Year of Astronomy, the CWAS resolved to present the first three overall winners with busts of Galileo. They were Geoffrey Wyatt in 2004, Eddie Trimarchi in 2005 and Peter Ward in 2006.
Photo Copyright: Brad Le Brocque |
Photo Copyright: Brad Le Brocque |
Photo Copyright: Brad Le Brocque |
The Award Winners
Photo Copyright: Denis Crute |
All of the 2009 "David Malin Awards" Winners. (L-R): Peter Ward, Bill Christie, Fred Vanderhaven, Phil Hart, Michael Sidonio, Gary Hill, Galileo Galilei, David Malin, Alan Brightman, Terry Cuttle, Marcus Davies, Max Kilmister and Eddie Trimarchi. Not shown is Darrin Nitschke. Not present were Doug Robertson, Mike Salway, Russell Cockman, Paul Haese and David Hough
Photo Copyright: Denis Crute |
The category award winners with Dr David Malin. (L-R): Phil Hart, Eddie Trimarchi, David Malin, Gary Hill, Marcus Davies, Terry Cuttle.
The winners receiving their awards
Photo Copyright: Brad Le Brocque |
Photo Copyright: Brad Le Brocque |
Photo Copyright: Brad Le Brocque |
| Terry Cuttle | Peter Ward | Eddie Trimarchi |
Photo Copyright: Brad Le Brocque |
Photo Copyright: Brad Le Brocque |
Photo Copyright: Brad Le Brocque |
| Fred Vanderhaven | Bill Christie | Phil Hart |
Photo Copyright: Brad Le Brocque |
Photo Copyright: Brad Le Brocque |
Photo Copyright: Brad Le Brocque |
| Darrin Nitschke | Max Kilmister | Michael Sidonio |
Photo Copyright: Brad Le Brocque |
| Marcus Davies |
Photo Copyright: Brad Le Brocque |
Photo Copyright: Denis Crute |
Photo Copyright: Denis Crute |
David Malin and CWAS President, Laurie Crowley, presented Gary Hill with the Galileo Bust and Perpetual Trophy as the OVERALL WINNER
Congratulations, Gary!
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 received a prize of a Canon PowerShot G10 digital camera (RRP $899).
The Honorary Mentions received a prize of a Canon IXUS 80IS digital camera (RRP $329).
|
Photo Copyright: Denis Crute |
Photo Copyright: Denis Crute |
Photo Copyright: Brad Le Brocque |
| Gary Hill | Phil Hart | Marcus Davies |
Photo Copyright: Brad Le Brocque |
Photo Copyright: Denis Crute |
Photo Copyright: Denis Crute |
| Eddie Trimarchi | Terry Cuttle | Fred Vanderhaven |
Photo Copyright: Denis Crute |
Photo Copyright: Denis Crute |
Photo Copyright: Brad Le Brocque |
| Peter Ward | Bill Christie | Darrin Nitschke |
Photo Copyright: Denis Crute |
Photo Copyright: Denis Crute |
| Michael Sidonio | Max Kilmister |
Congratulations to all the winners!
Photo Copyright: Brad Le Brocque |
Photo Copyright: Tony Trelford |
Fun after the presentations
Left Image: Three Italian Astronomers (L-R): Michael Sidonio, Giovanni Galilei (Galileo's long lost brother) and Eddie Trimarchi.
Right Image: Viewing Jupiter with a Replica Galileo Telescope.
Start preparing your astrophotos for the 2010 CWAS "David Malin Awards", and share with the wider public your enthusiasm for the grandeur and beauty of astronomy.
The 2009 CWAS "David Malin Awards" was proudly supported by Canon Australia and
Parkes Shire Council |  |
Comments and Enquiries: John Sarkissian of the AstroFest Organising Committee
|
|
