It’s a photographic competition that every year guarantees to take people’s breaths away.
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It’s the Central West Astronomical Society (CWAS) Astrophotography Awards – ran as part of the annual AstroFest in Parkes – and organisers are proud to announce the winners of this year’s event.
The overall winner is Phil Hart of Victoria for his beautiful image titled “Witch’s Head Nebula”.
This year's competition had eight categories: Deep Sky, Wide-Field, Solar System, Nightscapes, Animated Sequences (Scientific and Aesthetic), Junior and a Themed Section - "Airglow".
Entries came from throughout Australia and were judged by world renowned astrophotographer, Dr David Malin.
To view all of the winning images, visit: http://www.cwas.org.au/
It was not just technical skill that was assessed - prizes were awarded to pictures that are technically excellent and captured the beauty of the sky and the intrinsic interest of astronomy in an aesthetically pleasing manner.
“The high quality of the images is a testament to the outstanding skills and talents of Australian astrophotographers,” AstroFest organiser, John Sarkissian said.
Canon Australia supported the competition with Estore voucher prizes valued at $10,000.
In addition, the associated exhibition prints were made using a Canon imagePROGRAF Pro printer at SUNSTUDIOS.
Kate Guaran, Senior Product & Consumer Marketing Manager – Canon Australia said the company is proud of their long term association with CWAS AstroFest.
“These awards enable us to celebrate the photographers who capture the extraordinary beauty of our night sky, producing incredible other-worldly images and showing us just what is possible with patience, commitment and good equipment,” Kate said.
The winners were presented with the “David Malin Awards” in the presence of invited dignitaries during the CWAS AstroFest conference dinner which was held in Parkes on Saturday night.
The competition's exhibition will be on show at the CSIRO Parkes Observatory's Visitors Centre for an entire year beginning on July 16.
A second touring exhibition, organised by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, will travel to selected venues throughout Australia, beginning with the Sydney Observatory on August 10.
Last year’s exhibitions were viewed by over 200,00 people Australia-wide.
The 2017 CWAS AstroFest was proudly supported by CSIRO, Parkes Shire Council and Canon Australia.