Solar System winners
1st Place
A 78 night period of Saturn and its moons
Mohammad Ranjbaran
Technical Infos:
For this composite picture, I used ZWO asi290mm mini Camera, ZWO L-filter, a SkyWatcher 90mm Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope, and a tripod for monocolor pictures and a ZWO asi224mc Camera and ZWO IR-UV cut filter for the colors of Saturn and Titan.
Image Description:
This picture was made through a journey of 78 nights. I was able to see how Saturn moons rotate around it through this period. Iapetus is the moon with the widest orbit radius in the picture which almost disappears when it is on the left side of the planet from earth which my picture is able to show that as well. I started from June 15th 2021 and finished on August 31st 2021.
2nd Place
Main Sunspot in Active Region 2835
Michael Teoh
Technical Infos:
Date/Time Taken: July 1, 2021, 10:58 MYT (02:58 UT) Location: Heng Ee Observatory, Penang, Malaysia. Equipment: APM-TMB 228/2050 Telescope, Lunt Solar Wedge, Baader ND filter OD 3.0, Baader Solar Continuum 540nm, TeleVue 3x Barlow, QHY5L-II-M Camera Processing: Stacked with AutoStakkkert!3, Wavelet adjustment with Registax 6, Enhancement and false color with Photoshop 2020
Image Description:
This is the best sunspot image I have ever obtained at this magnification. After switching from 2x barlow to 3x barlow, I mistakenly judged that the seeing condition had deteriorated and thus did not proceed to capture a mosaic of the sunspot group. I regretted this decision as soon as I see the result after processing.
3rd Place
Crescents in the daylight sky
Christof Wiedemair
Technical Infos:
Date: 19.06.20 at 10:00 CEST 1/2000s at ISO 100 shot through a 6-inch, f=1000mm Borg refractor with a Canon 5D Mark IV
Image Description:
In the morning of 19 June 2020 a lunar occultation of our sister planet Venus was predicted. As usual, trying to frame this event was a nerve-racking endeavor. Thick clouds moved to and fro and every time I could catch a short glimpse of the thin crescent of Venus I pressed the release button. On the live-view image the moon itself was invisible, but when I inspected the frames on the computer back home I realized that my efforts were not in vain. The meeting of the two slender crescents may be the most aesthetic picture I ever took.
4th Place
ISS transit while the partial solar eclipse 2021
Michael Landgrebe
Technical Infos:
Telescope: TMB LZOS 152/1200, Riccardi 0.75 M82 reducer Mount: Astro Physics 900 GTO Camera: ZWO ASI 183 MM PRO, Astronomik 2c green filter Software: Autostakkert! and Photoshop for the final composite.
Image Description:
On June 10th 2021, i took a 100km drive close to the center line of the ISS transit while the partial solar eclipse here in southern Germany. Clouds left and right, but at 12:51:29, the sun was in a spot of clear blue sky. So I was able to capture that 0.58s transit with 25fps, yielding the 14 ISS footprints in the image together with the silhouette of the moon.
5th Place
Neowise comet through noctilucent clouds
Eduard Mociran
Technical Infos:
Nikon D3300 through 200/800 newtonian, HEQ5 PRO mount, stack of a couple frames for the comet only.
Image Description:
Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE through very bright noctilucent clouds
6th Place
Moon’s South Pole
Gábor Szendrői
Technical Infos:
Sky-Watcher 200/1000 Newtonian-reflector, ZWO ASI 290 MM camera, best 15% frame 22/02/2021 Gencsapáti, Hungary
Image Description:
Craters of the Moon’s South Pole under good seeing conditions.