Astrospheric has teamed up with OPT to host the “Sub Zero Winter” astrophotography competition. Targeted at North American imagers who brave the chilly winter nights, the contest is open to anyone who would like to participate.
The theme for the inaugural competition is “Sub Zero Winter” and Astrospheric already has a number of great submissions. To learn more about the competition and to submit your own photo, head over to Astrospheric’s website. Submissions will be taken until March 4th. Users of the Astrospheric will vote on the submissions.
The top prize is a Stellermate Wi-Fi Control system. The StellarMate is a next generation Internet-of-Things astrophotography device which provides the ability to connect your equipment (mount, DSLR/CCD, focuser, filter wheel, etc) to a StellarMate via USB/Bluetooth or network; connect to StellarMate from either your mobile, tablet, or laptop/desktop computer and then start controlling your observatory and imaging platform from any major platform.
Awards will be given to the top 3 submissions. First place is a StellarMate Wi-Fi astrophotography system controller and a 2-year Astrospheric subscription to Weather Alerts. Second place is a 2-year Astrospheric subscription to Weather Alerts and third place is a 1-year Astrospheric subscription to Weather Alerts.
For those not familiar with Astrospheric, it is a weather forecasting platform for amateur astronomers. It offers the ability to produce a highly accurate forecast for nearly any location in the US or Canada. Overloading cloud and light pollution data onto a map provides the opportunity for users at any time to search the next two days for the best observing and imaging weather conditions.
Competition rules include:
– Participants may submit one image each
– You must live in the US or Canada
– The Image must have been taken between November 1 – February 28
– The image must have been taken by the person submitting the image
– You may delete a previous submission and submit a new one
Contest categories include:
– Deep sky Object: Galaxy, nebula, star cluster or anything else that falls outside of our solar system
– Solar system: Planets, moons or anything that is within the Kuiper belt
– Terrestrial: Anything that includes Earths landscape in the image.
When submitting the image include the following information:
– What did you photograph (Moon, NGC 1976, etc)
– What equipment was used (Camera, mount, telescope, etc.)
– Acquisition Details: Exposure, light, dark bias, etc)
– Processing Details (Photoshop, PixInsight, etc)