The LodeStar Astronomy Center and The Albuquerque Astronomical Society (TAAS) have announced the Oct. 2 opening of the third annual "Astro-Images of New Mexico: Portraits from the Foothills of Space" astrophotography contest exhibition.
The exhibition, a celebration of the unique beauty of the New Mexico sky, features 30 celestial images taken throughout the state of New Mexico by amateur photographers. Images were submitted in four categories: Land & Sky, Plate/Film/Digital, Photo Illustration, and CCD (very light-sensitive digital imaging).
David Dockery of Las Cruces was awarded Best of Show for his finely-detailed, black-and-white image of the Sun with sunspots, entitled "Sunspots--Before the Storm." The image records colossal sunspots gathering on the Sun on October 27, 2003, one day before the eruption of the third largest solar flare ever recorded. Dockery captured the winning shot with a Nikon Coolpix digital camera and Baader solar filter, shooting through the eyepiece of a TeleVue 85mm refracting telescope, for 1/500th of a second.
The other 2004 contest award winners are:
- Jim Gale of Albuquerque - First Place, Land & Sky - image of forest and star trails.
- Eric Green of Norfolk, Virginia - Second Place, Land & Sky - image of
Moon and yucca.
- Randall Roberts of Carlsbad - Honorable Mention, Land & Sky - image of lightning and Delphinus constellation.
- Richard Sass of Cloudcroft - Honorable Mention, Land & Sky - image of White Sands Star Party and star trails.
- Mark Hanson of Madison, Wisconsin - First Place, Plate/Film/Digital - image of the Running Man Nebula; and Second Place, Plate/Film/Digital - image of the Veil Nebula, a supernova remnant.
- David Dockery of Las Cruces - Honorable Mention, Plate/Film/Digital - image of the North American Nebula.
- Carl Frisch of Rio Rancho - First Place, CCD - image of the Leo I dwarf galaxy.
- Daniel Galassini of Albuquerque - Second Place, CCD - image of the
Lagoon Nebula.
- John Laning of Tijeras - Honorable Mention, CCD - image of the Cocoon Nebula.
- Mark Hanson of Madison, Wisconsin - First Place, Photo Illustration -enhanced image of the Orion constellation and its deep-sky objects.
- Randall Roberts of Carlsbad - Second Place, Photo Illustration - collage image of moon, Venus, sleeping child, and poem.
- David Dockery of Las Cruces - Honorable Mention, Photo Illustration - enhanced image of the Andromeda Galaxy.
Business sponsors of the contest and exhibition are AP-T Camera Repair, Camera & Darkroom, Forms Plus, Kurt's Camera Corral, and TJ's
Camera & 1 Hour Photo.
The images will be on display through February 28, 2005 at the LodeStar Astronomy Center, located in the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science in Old Town Albuquerque. The exhibit is open daily from
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is included with LodeStar or museum admission. For information, call 505-841-5955 or visit: www.lodestar.unm.edu or www.taas.org.