Caption: The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 observed Saturn on 20 June 2019 as the planet made its closest approach to Earth this year, at approximately 1.36 billion kilometres away. The image shows coloured bands of gas on the planet's surface as well as its prominent rings made of ice and rocky material.
Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center), and M.H. Wong (University of California, Berkeley) credit link

Caption: Honourable mention in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Time lapses of celestial patterns.   This time-lapse was shot from Slovakia in August 2020. By fixing the relative movement of the sky to Earth's rotation in some of the frames, we can experience a different perspective as a viewer. The Milky Way, our home galaxy, is visible throughout the whole video. The bright objects near the Milky Way are Jupiter and Saturn, close together, Jupiter being the brighter one. This video also shows the interaction of amateur astronomers observing the Perseids meteor shower with their telescopes pointed towards the sky. An unfortunate aspect of the art of astronomical observing, clouds can suddenly cover the whole sky. The fog occurs mostly because of the higher humidity after the rain. Most of the light trails in the sky are made by satellites, but some of them, appearing just very briefly and not very noticeably, are meteors, as the video was shot around the peak of Perseids meteor shower.
Credit: Robert Barsa/IAU OAE

Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   This image, taken from the Avenue of Baobabs, Morondava, Madagascar, in July 2017, shows the majestic band of the Milky Way, our home galaxy, together with a rich collection of constellations and asterisms: Crux, Centaurus, Scorpius, Sagittarius and the Teapot asterism. Towards the bottom left of the image we can see the Southern Cross and the pointer stars Alpha (the brighter of the two) and Beta Centauri, which help to distinguish it from similar-looking configurations. Some cultures in Africa associate the Southern Cross with a giraffe, while others associate the constellations with a pride of lions or even with the Tree of Life. Antares, the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius, is the orange-red star straight up from the middle baobab tree. To the Pokomo people from southwestern Kenya, Africa, the Milky Way is associated with the smoke emanating from a campfire lit by ancient people. The various people in South Africa, in contrast, have different star tales; the Khoikhoi from the region around Cape Town explained the colours of the red and white stars as red and white roots that were roasted on a fire and thrown towards the sky together with the ashes of the fire. The Xhosa from further east consider the Milky Way the raised bristle of a huge angry dog, while the Zulu from near Johannesburg interpret it as a stream of spears of their strongest warriors. Polynesian people, who were adept seafarers and navigators, see the constellation Scorpius as a fish hook, and refer to it as the demigod Maui’s Fish Hook. For the Djab Wurrung and the Jardwadjali people, the Southern Cross is part of a Dreamtime Story involving Tchingal, the Bram-bram-bult brothers (the pointer stars), their mother Druk (Delta Crux), and Bunya, the hunter who gets changed into a possum (Gacrux, red star at the top of the Southern Cross). In this image, the planets Saturn (the bright point above Antares) and Jupiter (the bright point at the bottom-right of the image close to the trunk of the baobab tree) are visible. Indigenous cultures have various stories associated with the planets, for example Kamilaroi and Wailan people associate Saturn with wunygal, a small bird. The Boorong people of Western Victoria associate Jupiter with Ginabongbearp, the chief of the old spirits (Nurrumbunguttias), who takes the totemic form of the sulphur-crested white cockatoo.
Credit: Amirreza Kamkar/IAU OAE

Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   This all-sky image shows our home galaxy, the Milky Way, crossing the zenith, the point just above the observer as seen from Nagano, Japan, in May 2019. Such images of the whole sky can be taken either with a fish-eye lens or with a convex mirror on the ground, the latter of which would show the photographer as well. Some of the brightest stars in the night sky can be seen in this image, as well as two of the giant planets of our Solar System: Jupiter, the brightest point in the bottom of this image, and Saturn, another bright point just to the opposite side of the Galaxy, to the bottom and next to the horizon. Directly right of the Milky Way and below Jupiter, we can spot the bright red star Antares, the primary star of the Japanese asterism of The Heart. Japanese constellations derive from ancient Chinese constellations, which were adopted with only slight or no changes. In this tradition, The Heart is the heart of the “Azure Dragon”, a super-constellation that represents the spring. In the Babylonian and Greco-Roman traditions, this area is considered the heart of the Scorpion. In Babylonian religion, the star is associated with Lisi, the child of the mother goddess, but in Greek mythology it is related to the planet Mars, because of its colour. The reddish colour also led to the star’s Chinese name “The Fire Star”. We know that this colour is caused by its relatively cool temperature. Going from Antares to the right of the image, we find the more northern parts of the sky. The bright star in the lower-right of the image, close to the horizon, is Arcturus, located in the modern constellation Boötes. While Antares and its surrounding area are considered the heart of the Azure Dragon, Arcturus and Spica (below the horizon) are two single-star asterisms forming its huge horn. Pointing towards it from above, at the right-hand edge of the image’s horizon, we can see the handle of the Big Dipper, or Plough, which is part of the constellation Ursa Major. The bright point to the right of the galaxy and just above the middle of the image is Vega, located in the modern constellation Lyra. Extending a line to the other side of the Galaxy and a bit lower in the image we can find Altair, in the constellation Aquila. From that point we extend another line to Deneb, the brightest star in the constellation of the Swan, also a bit higher in this image and completely flooded by the Milky Way. These three bright stars comprise the asterism known as the Summer Triangle in the northern hemisphere.
Credit: Ohnishi Kouji/IAU OAE

Caption: Honourable mention in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns: Equatorial Milky Way   Taken in Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park, Java Island, Indonesia, in March 2016, this image captures regions of the southern Milky Way and, at its left edge, the two planets Mars and Saturn. Mars appears orange and is similar in colour to the star Antares, whose Greek name — anti Ares — references this. Saturn is a little bit fainter than Mars, but clearly visible among the stars of Ophiuchus, above the Pipe Nebula and forming an isosceles triangle with Mars and Antares. Mars is on the top and Saturn is vertically below. Visible to the naked eye, both planets have significance in many cultures around the world. In Roman mythology Mars is the god of war and fertility, and Saturn the god of sowing and agriculture. Its Greek equivalent, the god Kronos, is also considered the regent of completion. Indigenous Australians, including the Kamilaroi and Wailan people, associate Saturn with “wunygal”, a small bird. Mars is called Iherm-penh (something burnt in flames) by the Anmatyerre people of the Central Desert, while the Kokatha people of the Western Desert associate Mars and the star Anatres with the red-tailed black cockatoo (Kogolongo). In the middle of this photograph, the most famous southern constellations are clearly recognisable: the Southern Cross (Crux), the pointer stars, Alpha and Beta Centauri, the dark Coalsack Nebula and the red Eta Carina Nebula, which is not visible to the unaided eye but is prominent in modern photographs. In the 19th century, the star eta Carinae had been the second-brightest star in the sky for some time, but since it varies irregularly, it has hardly been recognisable in recent decades, and its future visibility is unpredictable. Triangulum Australe is visible between the pointer stars and the Scorpion, and in the constellation of Centaurus, the bright globular star cluster Omega Centauri is clearly displayed. It was considered a “nebulous star” since antiquity and, thus, was listed in star catalogues for at least 2000 years. Only within the last century did astronomers discover that globular star clusters are in the halo of our galaxy and that this one consists of roughly 10 million stars. The dark regions in the Milky Way, which are cool, dense clouds of dust and gas, form the head and body of the Celestial Emu Tchingal. Together with the Southern Cross and the pointer stars, they appear in the Dreamtime stories of many Indigenous Australians. One story associated with the Djab Wurrung and the Jardwadjali people is part of a Dreamtime Story involving Tchingal, the Bram-bram-bult brothers (the pointer stars), their mother Druk (Delta Crux), and Bunya the hunter, who gets transformed into a possum (Gacrux, the red star at the top of the Southern Cross).
Credit: Giorgia Hofer/IAU OAE

Caption: ২০২২ আইএইউ ওএই অ্যাস্ট্রোফটোগ্রাফি প্রতিযোগিতায় বিজয়ী, ক্যাটেগরি স্টিল ইমেজ স্বর্গীয় নিদর্শন। এই চিত্র রচনা আশ্চর্যজনক. ল্যান্ডস্কেপের দূরবর্তী পটভূমিতে আমরা পাহাড়ের একটি শৃঙ্খল দেখতে পাই যা উপরের আকাশে মিল্কিওয়ের কাঠামোর প্রতিফলন বলে মনে হয়। ল্যান্ডস্কেপের শক্তিশালী দিবালোকের মতো রঙগুলি চাঁদের কারণে ঘটে, চিত্রের শীর্ষে উজ্জ্বল আলো। ২০১৯ সালের ফেব্রুয়ারিতে মালয়েশিয়ার কিনাবালুতে তোলা, এই চিত্রটি গ্রহ এবং চাঁদের সারিবদ্ধতা দেখায়, রাশিচক্রের কেন্দ্রীয় রেখা হিসাবে গ্রহের ধারণাটি প্রকাশ করে, যে সমতলটির মধ্যে সমস্ত গ্রহ সূর্যকে প্রদক্ষিণ করে। গ্রহন হল রাশিচক্রের কেন্দ্রীয় রেখা, তাই গ্রহনগ্রহের উভয় পাশের প্রায় পাঁচ থেকে ১০ ডিগ্রির অঞ্চলটি যেখানে রাশিচক্রের নক্ষত্রমণ্ডল অবস্থিত। চিত্রের নীচে বাম দিকে দিগন্ত থেকে শুরু করে আমরা শুক্র, শনি এবং বৃহস্পতি গ্রহগুলি দেখতে পাচ্ছি। সারা বিশ্বের মানুষের জন্য গ্রহগুলির বিভিন্ন সাংস্কৃতিক তাত্পর্য রয়েছে এবং জীবনের সামাজিক, ধর্মীয় এবং ব্যবহারিক দিকগুলিতে গভীরভাবে এম্বেড করা হয়েছে। উদাহরণস্বরূপ, আদিবাসী অস্ট্রেলিয়ানদের ওয়ার্দামান ঐতিহ্যগুলি গ্রহগুলিকে পূর্বপুরুষ আত্মাদের সাথে যুক্ত করে যারা সেলেস্টিয়াল রোড (ক্রীপ্টিক) অতিক্রম করে। আকাশে গ্রহের আবির্ভাব এবং অন্তর্ধান বিভিন্ন অনুষ্ঠানের সাথে জড়িত। উদাহরণস্বরূপ, যখন শুক্র "সন্ধ্যার তারা" হওয়ার পরে "মর্নিং স্টার" হতে শুরু করে, তখন এটি অস্ট্রেলিয়ার আর্নহেম ল্যান্ডের ইওলনু মানুষের জন্য বানুম্বির অনুষ্ঠানকে চিহ্নিত করে। চিত্রটিতে স্কর্পিয়াস, অ্যাকিলা, লুপাস এবং ট্রায়াঙ্গুলাম অস্ট্রেল নক্ষত্রমণ্ডল, টিপটের নক্ষত্রপুঞ্জ এবং দুটি পয়েন্টার তারা আলফা এবং বিটা সেন্টোরিও দেখায়। তাদের মধ্যে থাকা নক্ষত্রপুঞ্জ, নক্ষত্র এবং পৃথক নক্ষত্রের বিভিন্ন সংস্কৃতিতে তাৎপর্য রয়েছে। মালয়েশিয়া, বিষুব রেখার কাছাকাছি হওয়ায়, উত্তরের পাশাপাশি দক্ষিণের সাথে সংযোগ রয়েছে এবং বছরজুড়ে প্রায় পুরো আকাশ দেখা যায়। আন্তারেস তারকাটিকে পশ্চিম মরুভূমির কোকাথা লোকেরা কোগোলোঙ্গো, লাল লেজযুক্ত কালো ককাটু হিসাবে দেখেন, যখন বুরং এটিকে ডিজুইট হিসাবে উল্লেখ করে, লাল-কাটা তোতাপাখি। যে দুটি নক্ষত্র বৃশ্চিক (শৌলা এবং লেসাথ) এর স্টিংগার গঠন করে তাদের বলা হয় কারিক কারিক, অস্ট্রেলিয়ান কেস্ট্রেল।
Credit: লিকাই লিন/আইএইউ ওএই

Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   This image shows the night sky over Tre Cime di Lavaredo, (Dolomites Natural Park), in the region of Veneto, Italy, in October 2021. The bright spot on the left-hand side is the planet Jupiter, appearing in the constellation Capricorn. To the right of Jupiter and below the two horn stars of Capricorn is the planet Saturn. Just above Jupiter we can see parts of Aquarius, one of the largest constellations and also part of the Zodiac. North of these constellations, left of the Milky Way, there are mostly faint stars. The brighter whitish one in the top left corner is Enif, a binary star in the constellation Pegasus. The Milky Way seems to emerge from a rock like celestial vapour. Roughly centred in the image are two bright stars left and right of the Milky Way: Altair and Vega, respectively. They seem to be separated by the galactic stream, as told in a popular Chinese folk story where they represent a loving couple. Today, in popular astronomy, the fairly bright star at the upper edge of the photograph is added to form a huge triangle with them, the Summer Triangle in the northern hemisphere. Altair is the brightest star of the Babylonian constellation Aquila, the Eagle. In ancient Babylon, it was said that the Eagle was carrying king Etana up in the air so that he could see Earth from above. Next to the Babylonian Eagle was the constellation of the Corpse, that returned only in Roman times when Ptolemy put it below the Eagle as the new sub-constellation “Antinous”. It is seen as the corpse (or soul) of the Roman emperor Hadrian’s favourite who had just died in the Nile. Vega is the bright white star to the right of the Milky Way. It forms part of the small constellation Lyra, famous for hosting the Ring Nebula, which is an impressive planetary nebula — a dying star blowing its gas into space. At the right edge of the image, three stars in a bent row appear rather prominently. This is the handle of the Big Dipper pointing downwards to a bright star close to the horizon: Arcturus, the bright star of the constellation Bootes (Greek: the Ploughman). This kite-like constellation is probably a pagan interpretation of the Babylonian god “Enlil” whose constellation also occupied that place in the sky. The Romans re-interpreted this figure as The Ox-Driver who controlled the Seven Oxen seen in the bright stars of Ursa Major. Directly right of Vega, there is the huge constellation Hercules and below it, directly to the left of Bootes, we find a half-circle of stars comprising the small constellation Corona Borealis, associated with Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of Crete in Greek culture. The lights seen in the bottom left side of the image are due to the reflection of artificial lights in the clouds.
Credit: Giorgia Hofer/IAU OAE