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Winners: Deep Space
This category is for photos of anything beyond our Solar System, including stars, nebulae and galaxies.
Earth and Space | Our Solar System | Deep Space | Young astronomy photographer | Special prizes
Winner
M51 – The Whirlpool Galaxy by Martin Pugh (UK/Australia)
19 June 2012
What the photographer says:
‘I was always going to be excited about this image given the exceptional seeing conditions M51 was photographed under and the addition of several hours of Ha data has really boosted the HII regions.’
Planewave 17-inch CDK telescope; Software Bisque Paramount ME mount; Apogee U16M camera
What it shows:
M51 or the Whirlpool is the archetypal spiral galaxy and for centuries astronomers have studied it in order to understand how galaxies form and evolve. Here the photographer has made use of exceptionally stable atmospheric conditions, minimising the twinkling or ‘seeing’ caused by air turbulence to produce a sharp, clear image in which every detail of the galaxy is visible.
M51 has been drawn and photographed many times, from the sketches of astronomer Lord Rosse in the 19th century to modern studies by the Hubble Space Telescope. This photograph is a worthy addition to that catalogue. It combines fine detail in the spiral arms with the faint tails of light that show how M51’s small companion galaxy is being torn apart by the gravity of its giant neighbour.
What the judges say:
Melanie Grant says: The depth and clarity of this photograph makes me want to go into deep space myself! A breath-taking look at the Whirlpool Galaxy.
Will Gater says: This is arguably one of the finest images of M51 ever taken by an amateur astronomer. It’s not just the detail in the spiral arms of the galaxy that’s remarkable – look closely and you’ll see many, very distant, galaxies in the background too.
Runner-up
Simeis 147 Supernova Remnant by Rogelio Bernal Andreo (USA)
11 April 2012
What the photographer says:
‘Most images I've seen of this faint and large object deprive us from viewing the many other things happening around it. My goal was to produce an image that visually documents not only the main object, but also more of what's around it.’
Takahashi FSQ-106 EDX telescope; Takahashi EM-400 mount; 385mm f/3.6 lens; SBIG STL 11000 camera
What it shows:
Straddling the constellations of Auriga and Taurus, Simeis 147 is a supernova remnant, the expanding debris of a massive star which exploded around 40,000 years ago. As the wreckage continues to spread out into space it collides violently with the dust and gas between the stars, sculpting it into the glowing shells and filaments which have earned Simeis 147 the nickname of the ‘Spaghetti Nebula’.
Highly commended
The Perseus Cluster – Abell 426 by Robert Franke (USA)
13 November 2010
What the photographer says:
‘I chose this composition because I like the left- to right-flow and wide variety of galaxies. Although this is no Hubble Deep Field, over a thousand galaxies are visible.’
RCOS 12.5-inch Ritchey-Chrétien telescope; Paramount ME mount; SBIG STL-11000 camera; 15-minute exposure
What it shows:
The harder you look, the more you see in this astonishing view of deep space. The points of light are relatively nearby stars in our own Milky Way galaxy. Far beyond them, at a staggering distance of almost 250 million light years, lie the myriad galaxies of the Perseus Cluster, also known as Abell 426. The cluster contains thousands of individual galaxies. Some are spirals like the Milky Way while others are giant, smooth elliptical systems. Together they form one of the largest structures in the Universe.
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Long-exposure photography is the best way to see and capture colour views of our distant neighbourhood.
Highly commended
NGC 6960 – The Witch's Broom by Robert Franke (USA)
9 September 2010
What the photographer says:
‘This synthetic colour image was created with Ha and OIII filters. These narrowband filters greatly increase the detail while giving a reasonable representation of the nebula's colour. The Veil Nebula is located in the constellation Cygnus, at a distance of about 1400 light years.’
RCOS 12.5-inch Ritchey-Chrétien telescope; Paramount ME mount; SBIG STL-11000 camera; 15-minute exposure
What it shows:
Part of the Veil Nebula, the ‘Witch’s Broom’ is the glowing debris from a supernova explosion – the violent death of a massive star. Although the supernova occurred several thousand years ago, the gaseous debris is still expanding outwards, producing this vast cloud-like structure.
Highly commended
Sharpless-136: ‘Ghost’ in Cepheus by Oleg Bryzgalov (Ukraine)
16 July 2011
What the photographer says:
‘The constellation Cepheus is very rich in a variety of astronomical objects. Spooky shapes seem to haunt this starry expanse, drifting through the night. Of course the shapes are cosmic dust clouds faintly visible in dimly reflected starlight. To shoot this image I had to drive 1000 kilometres to reach the mountains of the Crimea where the sky was dark enough.’
Newtonian 10-inch reflector; WS-180 mount; 1200mm f/4.7 lens; QSI-583wsg camera; 10-minute exposure
What it shows:
Dust clouds like these are an important component of the Milky Way Galaxy, filling huge volumes of space between the stars. The dust consists of tiny grains of minerals and ices and is an important building block for the formation of future stars and planets.