Competitions
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Shooting stars The doors for entry to the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition are open, so we popped in and caught up with Dr Marek Kukula, public astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich and competition judge, to discover more INTERVIEW
Interview by Megan Croft
How did the competition originate? Astronomy Photographer of the Year began as a way to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy in 2009. At the Royal Observatory we were aware that digital cameras were revolutionising the world of amateur astrophotography, enabling members of the public to take pictures of the night sky that 20 years ago could only have been taken by professional astronomers using powerful telescopes. These stunning photos were appearing in web forums and astronomy magazines and we wanted to give them wider recognition. Six years later, the competition has grown enormously. Each year there’s now an exhibition of the winners at the Royal Observatory, and a lavish book of all the shortlisted images is published by Collins. For 2015, Insight Investment has come on board as a sponsor, enabling us to expand the competition with many new categories and prizes. How did you get involved? My job as public astronomer is all about getting people excited about space and explaining the latest discoveries in astronomy, planetary science and cosmology in an accessible way. Beautiful pictures are one of the most engaging ways of getting people’s attention and making them want to find out more, so it was an obvious thing for me to get involved with. Also, I really love space pictures. When the Observatory asked if I’d like to become a judge on the competition I obviously said yes straight away. Why have the categories been rethought? The number of entries has increased year on year, from about 400 in 2009 to more than 1700 from 50 countries on every continent except Antarctica in 2014. Astrophotographers are imaginative and innovative people so we were also seeing an expansion in the range of photographic subjects. It was starting to become clear that the competition itself needed to expand in order to fully reflect this range and diversity. For example, we always get a lot of stunning pictures of the aurorae – the Northern and Southern Lights – but we weren’t even able to shortlist many of them because they were competing with equally stunning photos of night-time landscapes, meteor showers and other atmospheric phenomena. By creating a new Aurorae category I hope we’ll be able to showcase more of these incredible images. Is it possible to capture competition-worthy images with an ordinary camera? Yes – absolutely! The main point to make is that for many types of astrophotography you just need an
to see more of the natural wonders of the night sky. But even if you live somewhere urban there’s still a lot to see and photograph. Just going behind a building to block out immediate sources of light pollution such as nearby security lights and streetlights will help, or check out the Dark Sky Discovery website (www.darkskydiscovery.org.uk) for a list of the best observing sites in your area. Are there any exciting astronomical events for photographers to look out for and capture this year? Every year there’s always something different and interesting to see. Jupiter is putting on a good show at the moment and a partial eclipse of the sun will be visible from the UK on 20 March. Always be extremely careful when observing or photographing the sun, however – it could damage both your camera and your eyes. There are plenty of websites that give comprehensive safety advice for solar photography. The winning photos are always exceptional. In 2011, we had an incredible picture of Jupiter taken by Damian Peach that almost looked as though it had been taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. And last year we had a photo taken with a camera strapped to a weather balloon 25km above the Rocky Mountains. What are the most memorable images you’ve come across in the competition?
ordinary camera – so every photographer already has the basic kit. Objects in the night sky are relatively faint, but by playing around with your exposure settings you’ll start to get a feel for how to capture views of the sky. A cool thing to try is a long‑exposure shot with the camera pointing towards the North Star. As the earth rotates, the other stars appear to circle the pole and their images are drawn out into curving star trails. For shots of small or very faint objects, such as planets, nebulae or galaxies, you do need a telescope – preferably with a motor to track the sky as the earth rotates. You can buy a simple attachment to connect up your camera and there are plenty of ‘how to’ guides on the Internet. What skills are required? The same as for any type of photo: an eye for a beautiful shot and a willingness to experiment with your camera. You do need to be comfortable in the dark, though – your night vision takes about 20 minutes to reach its full strength and any artificial light will ruin it immediately. A good tip is to use a red torch or bicycle light as red light doesn’t have such a strong effect on night vision. Wrap up warm too – even in summer! Are there certain locations better suited to shooting the night sky? If you go somewhere really dark, away from the light pollution of towns and cities, you’ll definitely be able
Even if you live somewhere urban, there’s still a lot in the night sky to see and photograph
ABOVE Coastal stairways by Chris Murphy (New Zealand) won the Sir Patrick Moore prize for best newcomer for 2014.
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Issue 18 | Photography News
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