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Winners of the IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest Announced



Published: 25th August 2021 13:00 (UTC)

The Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) Astrophotography Contest announced earlier this year has come to an end, after receiving nearly 700 images from 57 countries. The winning photos, announced below, are now available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 International License (the authors will still retain the copyright to their images). This allows their free use as long as proper credits are given (see each image for the credit in the form author/IAU OAE). These images serve as an open educational resource to benefit teachers and learners worldwide, and can be accessed here.

The contest was launched to gather material of educational value on astronomical topics for which high-quality images and videos are not easily accessible to educators. Participants were invited to submit images in 10 different categories which were identified as areas that could benefit from more educational content: aurorae (sill images and time-lapses), comets, Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter (time-lapses), light pollution, meteor showers, star trails, Sun/Moon haloes, total lunar eclipse, and wide star fields.

Alessandra Masi, first place winner in the Total lunar eclipse category says: “Astrophotography allows me to deepen the celestial phenomena and it is exciting to be able to film the astronomical events set in the wonderful territory where I live, the Cadore, immersed in the Dolomites recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.”

Entries were evaluated by an international panel of astrophotographers and astronomy educators, who considered not only the aesthetic and technical criteria, but also the educational value of each entry in the context of primary and secondary school teaching. The three winning entries in each category receive cash prizes of €750, €500 and €250 for first, second and third place respectively.

The winning entries in each category are:

Aurorae (still images):
First place: Multicoloured aurora in Iceland, by Marco Migliardi on behalf of Associazione Astronomica Cortina, Italy
Second place: Northern light dragon over Ersfjordbotn/Norway, by Rainer Sparenberg, Germany
Third place: Iceland aurora, by Emmanuele Balboni, Italy

Comets:
First place: Neowise’s metamorphosis, by Tomáš Slovinský and Petr Horálek, Slovakia
Second place: Comet C/2020F3 (Neowise) with separate dust and ion gas tails and a green glowing coma, by Dietmar Gutermuth, Germany
Third place: Hello Comet, shall we dance?, by Robert Barsa, Slovakia

Light pollution:
First place: Starry Night over Eifel national park, by Dong Han, China
Second place: Real Light Pollution Panorama, by Tomáš Slovinský, Slovakia
Third place: Satellite swarm versus night sky beauty, by Torsten Hansen, Germany

Meteor showers:
First place: Geminid Meteor Shower from China, by Dai Jianfeng, China
Second place: Perseids 2020 over Dark Sky Park Poloniny, by Tomáš Slovinský, Slovakia
Third place: Gemini meteor shower, by Hao Yin, China

Star trails:
First place: Half day exposure to the north star, by Fabrizio Melandri, Italy
Second place: Stone Star Circles, Star Trails above Stonehenge, by Till Credner, Germany
Third place: Star Trails And Lava Plume on Mount Etna February 2021, Dario Giannobile, Italy

Sun/Moon haloes:
First place: Selene meets the Moon, by Sheila Wiwchar, Canada
Second place: Winter Haloes, by Thomas Gigl, Germany
Third place: Lunar rainbow and lunar Brocken spectre, by Kouji Ohnishi, Japan

Total lunar eclipse:
First place: The eclipsed Moon sets near the Rochetta di Prendera, Dolomiti Unesco, by Alessandra Masi, Italy
Second place: The Eclipse Between Us, by Muhammad Rayhan, Indonesia
Third place: Red Moon, by Daniel Henrion, France

Wide star fields:
First place: The Big Dipper in Yellowstone, by Alex Conu, Norway
Second place: Milky Way Arch over Lut Desert, Iran, by Amirreza Kamkar, Islamic Republic of Iran
Third place: Chilean observatories at home office, by Robert Barsa, Slovakia

Galilean moons:
First place: Jupiter, Io and its shadow, by Ralf Burkart, Germany
Second place: Jupiter Moon’s Movie2, by Nicolas Hurez, Paul-Antoine Matrangolo, and Carl Pennypacker, United States of America
Third place: Jupiter’s Rotation, by Vishal Sharma, India

Aurorae (time-lapses):
First place: Till the End of the World, by Hang Li, China
Second place: Icelandic Rivers of Light, by Sergio Díaz Ruiz, Spain
Third place: Under the Stars with Steve, by Sheila Wiwchar, Canada

Sheila Wiwchar, first place winner in Sun/Moon haloes and third place winner in Aurorae (time-lapses) categories, says: “Capturing the beauty and mystery of the skies at night is a universal endeavour, one that is unique to an individual. Never knowing unless I try to expect the unexpected, keeps me looking up to the stars!”

Astronomy is an exciting subject through which to engage people in the sciences and STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), and to learn about our place in the Universe. The material gathered through this contest is now freely available to support educators, learners, and anyone with an interest in astronomy, in the classroom and everywhere.

More information

The IAU is the international astronomical organisation that brings together more than 12 000 active professional astronomers from more than 100 countries worldwide. Its mission is to promote and safeguard astronomy in all its aspects, including research, communication, education and development, through international cooperation. The IAU also serves as the internationally recognised authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and the surface features on them. Founded in 1919, the IAU is the world's largest professional body for astronomers.

The IAU Office of Astronomy for Education is hosted at Haus der Astronomie (HdA), managed by the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy. The OAE’s mission is to support and coordinate astronomy education by astronomy researchers and educators, aimed at primary or secondary schools worldwide. HdA’s hosting the OAE was made possible through the support of the German foundations the Klaus Tschira Foundation and the Carl Zeiss Foundation.


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Contacts

Eduardo Monfardini Penteado
OAE Main Office
Coordinator
penteado​atastro4edu.org

Lars Lindberg Christensen
IAU Director of Communications
lars.christensen​atnoirlab.edu

Media files

None
Title: Multicolored aurora in Iceland, by Marco Migliardi on behalf of Associazione Astronomica Cortina, Italy
Caption: 1st Place - Aurorae (still images): Multicolored aurora in Iceland
Credit: Marco Migliardi on behalf of Associazione Astronomica Cortina/IAU OAE.
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 3.75 MB
A green, curved, y-shaped band of light over a mountainous horizon
Title: Northern light dragon over Ersfjordbotn/Norway
Caption: 2nd Place - Aurorae (still images): Northern light dragon over Ersfjordbotn/Norway
Credit: Rainer Sparenberg/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 1.27 MB
Wavy horizontal green bands, punctuated by dark vertical stripes. almost appear to rain down on a watery landscape
Title: Iceland aurora, by Emanuele Balboni, Italy
Caption: 3rd Place - Aurorae (still images): Iceland aurora
Credit: Emanuele Balboni/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 867.38 kB
A Y-shaped band of light with light and dark patches, in the colours green and pink glows in the sky over some buildings
Title: Till the End of the World, by Hang Li, China
Caption: 1st Place - Aurora (time-lapses): Till the End of the World
Credit: Hang Li/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: video 204.57 MB
Curved green bands of light radiate out from the horizon, diffusing to wider bands at the top of the image.
Title: Icelandic Rivers of Light, by Sergio Díaz Ruiz, Spain
Caption: 2nd Place - Aurora (time-lapses): Icelandic Rivers of Light
Credit: Sergio Díaz Ruiz/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: video 931.21 MB
An all-sky image with the sky as a dark blue circle. A curved band of light stretches from top to bottom
Title: Under the Stars with Steve, by Sheila Wiwchar, Canada
Caption: 3rd Place - Aurora (time-lapses): Under the Stars with Steve
Credit: Wiwchar, Sheila; IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: video 34.43 MB
Multiple image of a comet, its tail pointing away from the horizon, form an arc in the night sky over an urban area
Title: Neowise's metamorphosis, by Tomáš Slovinský and Petr Horálek, Slovakia
Caption: 1st Place - Comets: Neowise’s metamorphosis
Credit: Tomáš Slovinský and Petr Horálek/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 19.53 MB
A comet with two tails, one is yellowish and gradually spreading away from the nucleus, the other is blue and compact
Title: Comet C/2020F3 (Neowise) with separate dust and ion gas tails and a green glowing coma, by Dietmar Gutermuth, Germany
Caption: 2nd Place - Comets: Comet C/2020F3 (Neowise) with separate dust and ion gas tails and a green glowing coma
Credit: Dietmar Gutermuth/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 683.77 kB
A woman in silhouette appears to greet a comet that appears behind bands of light cloud
Title: Hello Comet, shall we dance?, by Robert Barsa, Slovakia
Caption: 3rd Place - Comets: Hello Comet, shall we dance?
Credit: Robert Barsa/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 2.59 MB
Jupiter with coloured horizontal bands of clouds. The shadow of the moon Io is seen as a dark circle in the top left
Title: Jupiter, Io and its shadow, by Ralf Burkart, Germany
Caption: 1st Place - Galilean moons: Jupiter, Io and its shadow
Credit: Ralf Burkart/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: video 12.64 MB
The planet Jupiter, seen here as a bright disk, is orbited by the four Galilean moons, seen here as bright dots
Title: Jupiter Moons Movie2, by Nicolas Hurez, Paul-Antoine Matrangolo, and Carl Pennypacker, United States of America
Caption: 2nd Place - Galilean moons: Jupiter moons
Credit: Nicolas Hurez, Paul-Antoine Matrangolo and Carl Pennypacker/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: video 890.47 kB
The planet Jupiter with the two of the four Galilean moons (visible as bright dots) orbiting it.
Title: Jupiter's Rotation, by Vishal Sharma, India
Caption: 3rd Place - Galilean moons: Jupiter’s Rotation
Credit: Vishal Sharma/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: video 1.54 MB
A tree in-front of the night sky. A yellow glow spreading from the horizon overwhelms the stars in the lower part of the sky
Title: Starry Night over Eifel national park, by Dong Han, China
Caption: 1st Place - Light pollution: Starry Night over Eifel national park
Credit: Dong Han/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 532.95 kB
A composite of six images as vertical stripes. The starry sky on the right-most image is gradually drowned out moving left
Title: Real Light Pollution Panorama, by Tomáš Slovinský, Slovakia
Caption: 2nd Place - Light pollution: Real Light Pollution Panorama
Credit: Tomáš Slovinský/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 7.60 MB
Bright streaks form vertical bars, obscuring the starry sky
Title: Satellite swarm versus night sky beauty, by Torsten Hansen, Germany
Caption: 3rd Place - Light pollution: Satellite swarm versus night sky beauty
Credit: Torsten Hansen/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 5.66 MB
Bright streaks created by meteors radiate away from a point in the starry sky
Title: Geminid Meteor Shower from China, by Dai Jianfeng, China
Caption: 1st Place - Meteor Showers: Geminid Meteor Shower from China
Credit: Dai Jianfeng/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 26.78 MB
An all-sky image. Bright, slightly curved streaks formed by meteors radiate away from a point in the Milky Way
Title: Perseids 2020 over Dark Sky Park Poloniny, by Tomáš Slovinský, Slovakia
Caption: 2nd Place - Meteor Showers: Perseids 2020 over Dark Sky Park Poloniny
Credit: Tomáš Slovinský/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 17.24 MB
Bright streaks created by meteors radiate from a point in the sky above the dish of a radio telescope.
Title: Gemini meteor shower, by Hao Yin, China
Caption: 3rd Place - Meteor Showers: Gemini meteor shower
Credit: Hao Yin/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 9.78 MB
Bright star trails for arcs around the center of the image behind the silhouette of a tree
Title: Half day exposure to the north star, by Fabrizio Melandri, Italy
Caption: 1st Place - Star Trails: Half day exposure to the north star
Credit: Fabrizio Melandri/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 6.11 MB
An all-sky image. Above a ring of stones shaped like door-frames, the bright curved paths of star trails seem to form circles
Title: Stone Star Circles, Startrails above Stonehenge, by Till Credner, Germany
Caption: 2nd Place - Star Trails: Stone Star Circles, Startrails above Stonehenge
Credit: Till Credner/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 1.26 MB
Star trails form short, diagonal lines in the background of a volcanic eruption
Title: Star Trails And Lava Plume on Mount Etna February 2021, by Dario Giannobile, Italy
Caption: 3rd Place - Star Trails: Star Trails And Lava Plume on Mount Etna February 2021
Credit: Dario Giannobile/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 12.61 MB
All sky image showing the Moon at the lower center surrounded by a bright ring with another, fainter ring in the image centre
Title: Selene meets the Moon, by Sheila Wiwchar, Canada
Caption: 1st Place - Sun/Moon haloes: Selene meets the Moon
Credit: Sheila Wiwchar/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 1.83 MB
The Sun, surrounded by several bright circles and arcs, over a snowy, tree-lined landscape.
Title: Winter Haloes, by Thomas Gigl, Germany
Caption: 2nd Place - Sun/Moon haloes Winter Haloes
Credit: Thomas Gigl/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 10.36 MB
None
Title: Lunar rainbow and lunar Brocken spectre, by Kouji Ohnishi, Japan
Caption: 3rd Place - Sun/Moon haloes: Lunar rainbow and lunar Brocken spectre
Credit: Kouji Ohnishi/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 30.91 MB
The Moon behind jagged, snowy mountains. The lower two thirds of the Moon are darker and redder than the upper third
Title: The eclipsed Moon sets near the Rochetta di Prendera, Dolomiti Unesco, by Alessandra Masi, Italy
Caption: 1st Place - Total lunar eclipse: The eclipsed Moon sets near the Rochetta di Prendera, Dolomiti Unesco
Credit: Alessandra Masi/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 4.19 MB
Two astronomers view a lunar eclipse. Between them in the partly cloudy sky, a series of bright circles trace a curved path
Title: The Eclipse Between Us, by Muhammad Rayhan, Indonesia
Caption: 2nd Place - Total lunar eclipse: The Eclipse Between Us
Credit: Muhammad Rayhan/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 12.57 MB
A composite of images of the Moon. Along the sequence of images, the Moon's colour changes from grey to red and back to grey.
Title: Red Moon, by Daniel Henrion, France
Caption: 3rd Place - Total lunar eclipse: Red Moon
Credit: Daniel Henrion/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 980.51 kB
A steaming pool of water with the night sky. The sky shows a bright group of 7 stars in the shape of a pan and handle
Title: The Big Dipper in Yellowstone, by Alex Conu, Norway
Caption: 1st Place - Wide Star fields: The Big Dipper in Yellowstone
Credit: Alex Conu/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 11.24 MB
The Milky Way as a bright band over the horizon. The right of the image shows structure of light and dark patches in the band
Title: Milky Way Arch over Lut Desert, Iran, by Amirreza Kamkar, Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Caption: 2nd Place - Wide Star fields: Milky Way Arch over Lut Desert, Iran
Credit: Amirreza Kamkar/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 2.85 MB
A group of observatories in-front of a dark sky. An arc of light curves from the bottom left. Several stars are visible.
Title: Chilean observatories at home office, by Robert Barsa, Slovakia
Caption: 3rd Place - Wide Star fields: Chilean observatories at home office
Credit: Robert Barsa/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
File: image 77.18 MB

The Office of Astronomy for Education is hosted by the Haus der Astronomie on the campus of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg. The Office of Astronomy for Education is an office of the International Astronomical Union, with substantial funding from the Klaus Tschira Foundation and the Carl Zeiss Foundation. The Shaw-IAU Workshops on Astronomy for Education
are funded by the Shaw Prize Foundation.