Saturn Contest

Back to some serious astronomy! Now we've all recovered after Christmas and new year, and given Saturn's opposition on Jan 28 2006, it seems appropriate to be looking at Saturn. So next time your scope is headed that way, how about a getting image of it? As always, there is a fabulous prize for the winner, copy of Bill Bryson's A brief History of Nearly Everything, generously donated by David Hatfield - check it out here.

As usual the rules are simplicity themselves. Take an image of the Saturn between 5pm Feb 13 2006 and 5pm Mar 13 2006. Your image may be of anything anything involving Saturn during this time i.e. telescopic or scenic, and processed in any way your heart desires...

To enter simply upload your image to our Yahoo! group photo section, the Saturn Competition folder before 5pm on Friday Mar 17 2006. The entries will be judged by an independent panel and the winners announced soon thereafter on the Yahoo! group. Good luck!

Contest Entries...

1. Saturn Feb 13 2006. Taken with an 8" GSO dob, Philips ToUcam 840, K3ccd, 197 images stacked with Registax, final adjustments with Macromedia Fireworks. By Paul Thomas.

 

Sun Contest

Happy new year to all! Our first contest of 2006 kicked off with something a little different - we asked you to dust off those hydrogen alpha filters and solar scopes and go get a picture of the Sun! Of course it didn't have to be a Ha shot, a sunset would have done just as nicely! As always, there was a fabulous prize for the winner, a fully laminated time sequence poster of the December 4th 2002 Total Eclipse at Ceduna in Southern Australia, generously donated by Ray Johnston, Director of the Great Barrier Reef Observatory - check it out here.

As usual the rules were simplicity themselves. Take a picture of the Sun between sunrise on Sunday Jan 1 2006 and sunset Tuesday Jan 31 2006. The picture must have been your own original work and reflections are permitted. We also asked you to remember to observe all necessary safety precautions when imaging the Sun!

The contest is now closed, but watch this space for news of the winner!

Contest Entries...

1. Cane sunset, taken Jan 6 2005 by Marc Bradshaw.	2. Sunbeams before the storm, taken by David Hatfield.	3. Sunspot group, taken Jan 20 2006 by David Hatfield.

4. First Light, taken Jan 1 2006 by Paul Thomas.

 

Mars Contest

Our third contest took place in October and November 2005 when Mars was at it's closest since August 2003. It won't be closer until 2018, so we asked you for a prize winning shot of Mars! And in true Tropical Stargazers tradition there was a fabulous prize up for grabs - a Moonstick (the theory being that with Mars out of the picture the next comp will probably involve the Moon again!).

In what is becoming another Tropical Stargazers' tradition, the Yahoo! group members poll resulted in a tie, with David Hatfield and Marc Bradshaw winning with images #6 and #3 respectively. Marc and David will each receive a Moonstick. Well done to all who entered.

The contest rules were fairly simple - We wanted you to take a picture of Mars between Sunday Oct 16 2005 and Monday Nov 14 2005, with all entries to be submitted by Friday 5:00pm Nov 18 2005. It could have been digital, film, webcam, single image, multiple images stacked and processed. Post processing was allowed with your favorite image editing software, but all images were be original, faithful and your own work. You may have submitted more than one picture.

Contest Entries...

1. Mars, taken Oct 16 2005 by David Hatfield.	2. Mars, taken Oct 28 2005 by Mick Benedetti.	3. Mars, taken Oct 29 2005 by Marc Bradshaw.

4. Mars, taken Oct 31 2005 by David Hatfield.	5. Mars, taken Nov 9 2005 by Marc Bradshaw.	6. Mars, taken Nov 6 2005 by David Hatfield.

 

Moon Contest

Our second contest gave you the chance to win a copy of Michael Light's superb book Full Moon, generously donated by Ray Johnston of the Great Barrier Reef Observatory, and to become an exhibitionist!

The brief was to go out and get pictures of the Moon - in any state, phase or whatever. You could have photographed it through your bedroom window, lit a fire under it, stacked it 500 times, photoshopped it, lasered it, used trees or a camera made before most of us were born -- you could have used a Hills hoist if you'd have so wished! We wanted you to be adventurous, bold, innovative, and even maybe a little wicked. We were looking for artistic quality, not technical correctness!

Entries were judged by the staff at ABC Tropical North and the winners were announced on Melissa and Ray's show at 10:10am, Thursday Oct 27. To find catch a replay of the show, head over to our Ray on the Radio page.

The winners were: 1st place Marc Bradshaw, with #2, Yellow Moon at Midge Point, 2nd place Ray Johnston with #25, Evensong, and 3rd place Mick Benedetti, with #14, Bright Light Moon. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone else who took part!

Contest Entries...

1. Is that Mars or the Moon?. Taken Sep 18 2005 by Ray Johnston.	2. Yellow Moon at Midge point. Taken Sep 18 2005 by Marc Bradshaw.	3. Moonrise at Midge Point. Taken Sep 18 2005 by Marc Bradshaw.

4. Jupiter Harvest Moon. Taken Sep 19 2005 by Michael Benedetti.	5. The Star of Bethlehem. Taken Sep 19 2005 by Ray Johnston.	6. Hey, Houston, we have a problem. If that's the Moon rising, then where the hell are we ?? By Ray Johnston.

7. Dawn on the lawn. Taken Sep 30 2005 by Ray Johnston.	8. An old Moon and an early dawn. Taken Oct 2 2005 by Ray Johnston.	9. The Moon in a brighter dawn light. Taken Oct 2 2005 by Ray Johnston.

10. Moon Pool. A rare triple moon conjunction. By Marc Bradshaw.	11. Beautiful conjunction. Taken Oct 7 2005 by Ray Johnston.	12. Moon & Venus conjunction. Taken Oct 7 2005 by Michael Benedetti.

13. Witches' Moon. Taken Oct 13 2005 by Ray Johnston.	11. Aristarchus and Prinz. Taken Oct 14 2005 by Michael Benedetti.	14. Bright Light Moon. Taken Oct 15 2005 by Michael Benedetti.

16. Just a Moon. Taken Oct 5 2005 by Paul Thomas.	17. The Moon Under the Yardarm. Taken Oct 8 2005 by Paul Thomas.	18. Lunar Communications. Taken Oct 10 2005 by Paul Thomas.

19. Moon and Venus by Gaslight. Taken Oct 7 2005 by Marc Bradshaw.	20. Yellow Moon at Horseshoe Bay. Taken Oct 17 2005 by Marc Bradshaw.	21. Moon Rocks. Taken Oct 17 2005 by Marc Bradshaw.

22. Partial Lunar Eclipse. Taken Oct 17 2005 by Marc Bradshaw.	23. Red Mooneye. By Paul Thomas.	24. Tropical Garden. Taken Oct 18 2005 by Ray Johnston.

25. Evensong. Taken Oct 18 2005 by Ray Johnston.	26. In a Galaxy Far Far Away... Taken Oct 18 2005 by Ray Johnston.

 

Venus Jupiter Spica Moon Contest

The first club contest kicked off with a photo contest - the mission was to capture Venus and Jupiter's coming together in September 2005, and the prize was a 'brace of wine', generously donated by Ray Johnston, Director of the Great Barrier Reef Observatory. The result was a tie, the winners being Marc and Paul with 'Sizzling!' and 'Trees Again!'. Marc and Paul will share the prize - half a brace of wine each!

Well done and thanks to everyone who entered!

Contest Entries...

1. Venus, Jupiter and Spica, taken over Mackay Marina. Taken Aug 31 2005. By Michael Benedetti.	2. Venus, Jupiter, and Spica when Venus and Jupiter were at their closest, capturing the Esplanade on the left to the Lagoon at the right, in Airlie Beach. Taken Sep 1 2005. By Marc Bradshaw.	3. Under Construction. Venus, Jupiter and Spica again, though this time in almost perfect alignment. Taken Sep 4 2005. By Marc Bradshaw.

4. Sizzling! Venus, Jupiter and Spica are joined by the Moon with it's thin crescent and faint Earthshine illimuniated disc. Taken Sep 7 2005. By Marc Bradshaw.	5. Laser Innovation! The clouds came in and the laser came out. The Stargazers' logo was projected with a 100mW T3 Oracle laser. Taken Sep 7 2005. By Paul Thomas.	6. Trees Again! Venus, Jupiter and Spica are joined by the Moon. Taken Sep 7 2005. By Paul Thomas.