In mid-May the Denver Astronomical Society announced it was hosting an astrophotography contest open to all of its members. Over the next two months, members snapped away at the heavens, and submitted their best shots for consideration. After careful deliberation, the judges announced the winners at the online DAS meeting held on July 31, 2020.
Category: Beginner, Solar System Object
Winner: Mark Laurin
Celestial Object: Moon
Equipment Used: Meade 6000, 115mm APO Refractor Telescope, Tele Vue 32mm Plossl 1 1/4″ Eyepiece,
Celestron 1 1/4″ 90 Degree Star Diagonal, Celestron NexYZ Smartphone Adapter, Apple 6S iPhone 12MP Camera
Finishing Method: Microsoft Photo Editor, Filter and Cropping
Date: April 29, 2020
Category: Beginner, Night Scape
Winner: Ted Gardner
Celestial Object: Comet NEOWISE
Equipment Used: Canon Rebel T3, 3.2 second exposure, 100 iso
Date: July 17, 2020
Category: Beginner, Deep Space Object
Winner: Mike Lucibella
Celestial Object: Orion Nebula
Equipment Used: William Optics RedCat, iOptron Skyguider Pro, Nikon D610 DLSR camera
Finishing Method: Level adjusts in Adobe Lightroom
Date: April 8, 2020
Category: Intermediate, Night Scape
Winner: Randal Curtis
Celestial Object: Milky Way
Equipment Used: Sony A6000, 25mm F/3.2 Lens, IOptron SkyGuider Pro
Finishing Method: Adobe Photoshop Light Room
Date: May 23, 2020
Category: Intermediate, Deep Space Object
Winner: Steve Barr
Celestial Object: North American Nebula
Equipment Used: Meade Series 6000 80mm refractor, Celestron AVX mount, Unmodified Canon 6D Mark II camera,
Optolong L-Enhance filter, 0.8 focal reducer/flattener
Finishing Method: 21 x 180 sec exposures; stacked with Deep Sky Stacker; Photoshop Creative Cloud
Date: June 12, 2020
Honorable Mention: Randal Curtis
Celestial Object: Veil Nebula
Equipment Used: Sony A6000, Sky-Watcher EQM-35, Orion 120mm F/5 Refractor,
QHY30mm Guide Scope, Astronomic H-Alpha Filter, Raspberry Pi
Finishing Method: Adobe Photoshop Light Room, Dark Table, Deep Sky Stacker
Date: June 12, 2020
Honorable Mention: Anthony Timpson
Celestial Object: M81 Galaxy
Equipment Used: 10 inch newtonian telescope, Atlas EQ-G mount,
Sony a6000 at prime, 60mm guide scope/ssag pro cam
Finishing Method: Sharpcap plate solve, PHD2 guiding, stacked with Astro Pixel Processor,
some levels tweaks in the app, default settings, Final levels in Photoshop
Date: June 12, 2020