The 2022 Astrophotography Contest
RASC Mississauga CentreThe contest is divided into Master Class, General, and Youth divisions.
Master Class Division:
Master Class Division is open to members who have won a category in a contest previously.
Master Class Category: Solar System
Winner:
Object: Sol (composite of 4 views)
Date Taken: Nov 23, 2022
Location: Haldimand County, Ontario
Equipment: William Optics 156mm APO, Apollo-M Max, Quark Chromosphere, iOptron CEM120, Primaluce Eagle 4 Pro, SkyShed and SkyShed pier. NINA
Processing: Captured with Sharpcap, processed with AutoStakkert!2, RegiStax 6.0, and Photoshop CC.
Second Place
Object: Jupiter’s Eclipsing Moons
Date Taken: Sept 30th, 2022
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Equipment: Celestron C11 Schmidt Cassegrain telescope f10; ZWO ASI 224mc camera; ZWO ADC; Televue 2.5x Powermate; IR/UV cut filter
Processing: All images were processed in Autostakkert!3, and then in Registax and Photoshop. The Jupiter images were de-rotated in Winjupos and combined with the images of the moons, which were also processed in Autostakkert!3, Registax and Photoshop.
Honourable Mention
Photo by: Shakeel Anwar
Object: Saturn with 6 moons
Date Taken: Aug 28th, 2022
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Equipment: Celestron C11 Schmidt Cassegrain telescope f10; ZWO ASI 224mc camera; ZWO ADC; Televue 2.5x Powermate; Baader 685nm filter
Processing: Exposure time: 4 X 180 sec RGB, 5 X 180 sec IR for Saturn, 1 X 180 sec for the moonsThe exposures of Saturn were processed in Autostakkert!3, and then in Registax and Photoshop. They were then de-rotated in Winjupos and combined with the moons image, which also was processed in Autostakkert!3, Registax and Photoshop.
Master Class Category: Deep Sky
Winner:
Object: “Whirling Dervish” region of the Soul Nebula near IC1848
Date Taken: September 18, 2022
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Equipment: William Optics FLT132 APO refractor + ASI2600MM + 3nm Chroma filters + iOptron GEM45 mount
Processing: Modified Hubble SHO pallet using over 34hrs of exposure. Processed with Astro Pixel Processor and Photoshop.
Second Place
Object: M31 (Andromeda Galaxy)
Date Taken: Oct. 22, 2022
Location: Haldimand County, Ontario
Equipment: Starfield Géar 80, 0.8x field flattener/reducer, ASI2600MC Pro, gain 100, cooled to -10 C for RGB, ASI2600MM Pro (-10C), Gain 100, with Antlia 3 nm Ha Narrowband filter, WO Uniguide with ASI 120mm, EQ6R Pro, ZWO Asiair Pro. 11 hr 52’ integration
Processing: PixInsight: WBPP, PixelMath, Dynamic Background Extraction, Colour calibration, noise reduction, stretch, masking and selective histogram stretch, HDRMT, curves transformation for contrast, Adobe Lightroom: cropped, texture adjustment.
Honourable Mention
Photo by: Rick Veregin
Object: The Crab Nebula – M1
Date Taken: January & March 2022
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Equipment: Celestron C925 Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope with Celestron f6.3 reducer, L-eNhance Hα/OII filter, 15.4 hours total exposure
Processing: Calibrated, registered, and stacked in DeepSkyStacker, stretched and color calibrated in StarTools, with final color and tone curve adjusted, and noise reduced in Photoshop.
Master Class Category: Astroscape
Winner:
Object: Total Lunar Eclipse Composite
Date Taken: Nov 8, 2022
Location: Mississauga, Canada
Equipment: Canon 6D; Sigma 14-24mm lens @ f2.8; Photix Intervalometer; Manfrotto Tripod
Processing: A 40 image composite of the total lunar eclipse in the early morning hours of Nov 8th, taken by the shores of Lake Ontario in Mississauga. The composite captures 3 hours of the eclipse, at 5 minute intervals. From the top left of the image, the Moon enters the umbra, then passes through 1 hour and 25 minutes of totality, and begins exiting totality as it sets into the brightening dawn sky. The composition was focus-stacked, where the immediate foreground was focussed and added to the sky composite separately to ensure the entire composition is in focus. Processed in Photoshop.
Second Place
Photo by: Adriano Almeida
Object: Star Trails around Polaris
Date Taken: September 24, 2022
Location: French River Provincial Park, Ontario
Equipment: Astro-modified Canon t3i (unfiltered) + carbon tripod – Intervalometer + Celestron Powertank
Processing: Stationary mount and a timelapse shot were used to achieve the cumulative effect of the rotating star field. The foreground was shot during twilight and the star trails captured between 8pm-1am from the exact same spot. Combined in Astro Pixel Processor and edited in Photoshop.
Honourable Mention
Photo by: Shakeel Anwar
Object: A celestial bridge between two close neighbours!
Date Taken: June 4, 2022
Location: South Cayuga, Ontario
Equipment: Canon 6D; Sigma 14-24mm lens @ 14mm, f2.8; Photix Intervalometer; Manfrotto Tripod; IOptron SkyTracker Pro tracking mount; Exposure: 30 seconds X 5 per panel
Processing: Each of the 4 panels making up this panoramic is composed of 5 images each, which were stacked in Sequator, then combined and processed in Photoshop.
General Division:
The General Division is open to members who are starting out in astrophotography.
General Category: Solar System
General Category: Deep Sky
Winner:
Object: M42 (Orion Nebula)
Date Taken: Nov. 8, 2022
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Equipment: Smartphone (Samsung S22 Ultra) built-in telephoto, tripod. No telescope
Processing: Some 2s ISO3200 light frames for a total of 10 minutes; – Photoshop: Star Masking, stretching, fine vignette correction, saturation.
General Category: Astroscape
Winner:
Object: Shed with Startrails
Date Taken: Oct 22, 2022
Location: Bracebridge, Ontario
Equipment: Canon EOS 70D 18mm f/3.5 110x15sec ISO 1600
Processing: Stacked with StarStax, enhanced contrast and colour saturation/span>
Second Place
Object: Circumpolar Star Trails
Date Taken: August 28, 2022
Location: Hogback Island, Charleston Lake, Ontario
Equipment: Canon EOS 6D DSLR with 15mm Fisheye Lens.
Processing: 380 fifteen-second subs on a fixed tripod at F6.7 and ISO 1600. Total exposure time 95 min. Starstax to combine the subs, then Photoshop to mask the sky and foreground into separate layers for brightness/contrast adjustment
Honourable Mention
Photo by: Kirby Alguire
Object: Lunar Eclipse Sequence
Date Taken: Nov 8, 2022
Location: Vineland, Ontario
Equipment: Canon EOS 6D DSLR with 30mm Wide Angle Lens on a fixed tripod
Processing: 16 subs, all at F9.5: 1/500, 1/500, 1/500, 1/180, 1/500, 1/500, 1/90, 1/8, 1/8, 2s, 2s, 2s, 2s, 2s, 3s, 1s .
Photoshop to combine the exposures as separate layers. Masking of the last few moons to eliminate the brightening sky. Masking on the last photo to adjust moon, Orion in upper left and the background sky.
Youth Division:
The Youth Division is open to members who are 25yrs old or younger.
Winner:
Object: Lunar Eclipse
Date Taken: Nov 8, 2022
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Equipment: Canon t5i, Skywatcher 600mm refractor (untracked)
Processing: 0.5sec exposure, ISO 800.; contrast increase and sharpening
Second Place
Object: Gibbous Moon
Date Taken: Jul 9, 2022
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Equipment: iPhone 11 pro, 8 inch Dobsonian (untracked)
Processing: 1/375sec exposure, ISO 32; Default Processing
Honourable Mention
Object: Milky Way Galaxy
Date Taken: Oct 22, 2022
Location: Vineland, Ontario
Equipment: Nikon D5100
Processing: Untracked, 500 frames of 2 second exposures, 25mm, f/4.5; Basic stretching and color correction for the noise.