2019 Astrophotography Competition (Closed)

We are delighted to announce that our expert panel have chosen from the excellent images submitted to our 2019 astrophotography competition and have now crowned the winner. Before announcing the winner, everyone at Atik Cameras would like to thank all those who submitted an entry. As astrophotographers ourselves, we know first-hand the skill, dedication, and effort you have invested into each astro image and the mixture of excitement and nerves that are involved in submitting an entry into an online astrophotography competition.

Our competition will be running again throughout 2020 so follow our social media channels for news on when the new competition opens, we are anticipating yet another year of inspiring images!

2019 Astrophotography Competition Winner

Jonathan Fertil – Antennae Galaxy – Atik 460EX

About the image: The Antennae Galaxy is a long-term favourite target of Jonathan’s from his days in France. Now located in the South American nation of Chile, Jonathan took the opportunity to capture one of his favourite targets from a different perspective and to fantastic effect. For the pre-processing Jonathan used Pixinsight which allowed him to perform a drizzle x2 which enabled him to gain in resolution and in terms of visible noise in addition to deconvolution. Jonathan used Photoshop for the finish and the colours.

About the astrophotographer: Jonathan’s astrophotography journey began around a decade ago, at which point he imaged early in the mornings before heading to work for the day. This passion grew and Jonathan’s skills and knowledge developed to the point that he received the opportunity to work in an observatory in Chile. Naturally, this has furthered Jonathan’s interest in astrophotography and has led to great images such as the above.

Runners Up

Régis le Bihan – The heart of the heart (Melotte 15) – Atik One 6.0

About the image: The goal that Régis had when capturing this image was to showcase the finer details of this nebula in which cosmic clouds are created by the stellar winds and radiation from the starts in the Melotte 15 star cluster. During his five night setup at home in Toulon, France, Régis captured data through narrowband filters – 6nm Ha, Oiii and Sii.

About the astrophotographer: Régis is a proud father of three and first became interested in astronomy when he received his first telescope as a 10-year old. Over the past five years, Régis has made the transition from using a DSLR camera to using a dedicated astrophotography camera. Régis is delighted with the results he has seen since using Atik Cameras and expects to continue enjoying the hobby for years to come.

José Mtanous – The Hyades Cluster – Atik 11000

About the image: During the Christmas holiday period José had the opportunity to spend some time in a dark location in Mexico to begin a new imaging project, The Hyades Cluster. In addition to being a runner up in our competition, this image also received the prestigious NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) award on the 22nd January 2020. Below, José meets up with Atik’s Jason Evans at European Astrofest to collect his runners-up prize.

About the astrophotographer: José is a highly skilled astrophotographer and is based across the southern United States and Mexico. José operates his own blog in which he highlights some of his personal favourite images. Read José’s blog here.

Highly Commended

Additionally, the following images were found to be very impressive by our panel and certainly worthy of a mention.

Once again, congratulations to Jonathan on his winning image and winning an Atik 16200 whilst Régis and José win an Atik Titan colour, and thanks to all that sent in an entry. Our 2020 competition will be open shortly and we look forward to seeing what are sure to be another inspiring set of images for our panel to debate over in 2021.