Greenwich / astronomy photographer of the year/ 2015 winners

[волны.]

Eclipse Totality over Sassendalen by Luc Jamet (France) 20 March 2015 Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway Canon EOS 7D camera, 16mm f/5 lens, ISO 200, 1/6-, 1/2- and 1.6-second exposures What the photographer says: This is a picture of the 2015 solar eclipse as seen from Svalbard. Totality had begun 16 seconds before this picture was taken, about 100 metres above Sassendalen, Spitsbergen. The photo is an HDR [High Dynamic Range] composition made from three takes. We can see clearly the lunar shadow’s edge in the sky. The bright spot in the upper left of the photo is Venus. + M33 Core by Michael van Doorn (Netherlands) 28 October 2014 Almere, Flevoland, Netherlands C11 telescope, ASA Reducer telescope lens, SXVR-H18 camera, 2156mm f/7.7 lens What the photographer says: We have excellent seeing conditions here in the Netherlands for just a few days every year. This time I used these days for shooting high-resolution luminance of our magnificent neighbouring galaxy. I shot the colour and H-alpha [Hydrogen-alpha] data with a super-fast f/2.0 telescope. Combined together, the data gave me a chance to create this picture of the inside structures of M33, the Triangulum Galaxy. The image is special for me because it can only be made once in a few years from my location. Silk Skies by Jamen Percy (Australia) 19 February 2014 Abisko National Park, Lapland, Sweden Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera, 24mm f/1.4 lens, ISO 2000, 4-second exposure What the photographer says: After waiting many hours on top of the mountain for the aurora, I finally gave up and decided to call it a night. I packed up my gear and began to walk back. As I stumbled down the hill I noticed the snow reflecting a green glow (you can see my footprints on the left). I quickly turned around and I looked up to see this. I didn’t have time to move – I had to take the picture from where I stood – but the soft, snowy slope created a pleasant composition so I stayed there, in awe. Huge Prominence Lift-off by Paolo Porcellana (Italy) 27 March 2015 Costigliole d’Asti, Italy Home-made truss refractor telescope, AZ EQ6 mount, 150mm telescope lens, PTG Chameleon Mono camera, f/15 lens What the photographer says: When I saw that this huge prominence was starting to detach from the surface of the Sun I decided to capture its trip to space. Because of its massive size it kept a visible structure even at a great distance from the Sun’s disc. I reduced the focal length to 2m and captured six panels to make a big mosaic. That remarkable projected arm of fire reached a length of more than 700,000km in its process of detachment. Full Face of our Moon by András Papp (Hungary) 8 March 2014 Veszprémvarsány, Győr-Moson-Sopron County, Hungary GPU Optical telescope, Sky-watcher HEQ5 mount, 5-inch f/9.45 telescope lens, Imaging Source DMK41AF04 camera, 2400mm lens, 1/192- and 2-second exposures What the photographer says: I started my project to capture the whole of the Moon’s face on camera by focusing on the dark half of the lunar disc. I went through along the terminator (the boundary between light and dark) and then I had plenty of time to capture the rest of the dark side. I continued shooting the dark side with the parts furthest from the terminator and I finished by capturing the terminator area. To preserve the sense of the Moon caught at exactly at half phase, I recorded all the images on the same night. Sunset Peak Star Trail by Chap Him Wong (Hong Kong) 1 November 2014 Sunset Peak, Lantau Island, Hong Kong Canon 6D camera, 14mm f/4 lens, ISO 1600, 3600-second exposure What the photographer says: At 869m (2851 feet), Sunset Peak is Hong Kong’s third-highest mountain and it is particularly beautiful in autumn. The stone cottages on its slopes were originally built by the British and other westerners for their summer vacations: now these old buildings have become wind shelters for campers. Above the peak covered with gold and silver grass, the tantalizing sky reveals the Milky Way and stars beyond. Little wonder that Sunset Peak has become one of the most popular locations for hiking and photography in Hong Kong. The Arrow Missed the Heart by Lefteris Velissaratos (Greece) 21 August 2014 Strethi Mountain, Corinthia, Greece FSQ106 f/5 telescope, EQ8 mount, STL 11000M camera, 530mm lens, 120-second exposure What the photographer says: This image shows the journey of Comet/2014 E2 Jacques in the path of the spectacular NGC 896 Nebula. That’s something you don't see more than once in a lifetime. The Magnificent Omega Centauri by Ignacio Diaz Bobillo (Argentina) 31 May 2014 San Antonio de Areco, Buenos Aires, Argentina AP130GT telescope, Losmandy G11 mount, Canon 6D, Baader modified and peltier cooled camera, 865mm f/6.5 lens, ISO 800, 22 x 180-second exposures What the photographer says: I always come back to this spectacular object, especially when it is high up in the sky on a night of good seeing, as in this case. By using a full-frame camera, I was able to bring into the frame a few galaxies in the background, as well as a hint of IFN [Integrated Flux Nebula]. Star colour is always challenging when using OSC [One-Shot Colour] cameras. Orion DT by David Tolliday (UK) 24 November 2014 Elan Valley, Powys, UK Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera, Astrotrac mount, 500mm f/4 lens, ISO 800, 18- 44- and 117-second exposures What the photographer says: This image of the Orion and the Running Man Nebulae was taken on my first night of astrophotography at the dark-sky location in Elan Valley, mid-Wales. I usually take wildlife photographs so borrowed an Astrotrac mount. The temperature was -2°C, there was ice on the tripod, and my camera bag was white with frost. I photographed red kites during the day and the sky at night. This was one of my most enjoyable photography days ever. Comet C/2013 A1 alongside Mars by Sebastian Voltmer (Germany) 22 October 2014 Siding Spring Observatory, Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia SBIG STL11000M camera What the photographer says: At the end of 2012, I visited Siding Spring Observatory. On that day, Comet C/2013 A1 scraped past Mars. This event was visible over the horizon for just an hour. Astrophotographer Raffaele Esposito took an RGB-sequence [Red/Green/Blue] in binning mode, which he let me use to create this high resolution LRGB-composite [Luminance/Red/Green/Blue]. I submitted this image because it shows an exciting event that was only visible from a few places close to the horizon at dusk. (c) www.rmg.co.uk