Hevelianum settled the international astrophotography competition “AstroCamera” for the eleventh time. After lengthy deliberations, the jury selected the best photos among the 361 photos submitted from around the world in three categories: Deep Space Objects, Solar System Objects, and Astro-landscape.
Traditionally, on the birthday of its patron, the most famous astronomer in Gdańsk – Johannes Hevelius, Hevelianum announces subsequent editions of AstroCamera. This year was no different, with the results being announced on 28 June, exactly five months after Johannes Hevelius’ birthday.
The competition is dedicated to astronomy and photography enthusiasts from all over the world. The winners are selected by a jury of renowned researchers and popularisers of astronomy, astrophysics, and photography. The winners will receive financial prizes and specially designed statuettes made by sculptor Tomasz Radziewicz. The jury of this year’s 11th edition of the competition consisted of: Magdalena Maszewska (Astronomer at Hevelianum and president of the jury), Krzysztof Czart, PhD (European Southern Observatory (ESO), Prof. Piotr Gnaciński (University of Gdańsk), Bogdan Jarzyna (Astrophotographer), Wojtek Korsak (Association of Polish Art Photographers), Maciej Mikołajewski, PhD (Urania – Postępy Astronomii), Bogna Pazderska (Astronomer at Hevelianum), Przemysław Rudź (Polish Space Agency (POLSA)), Sebastian Soberski (Polish Society of Astronomy Enthusiasts (PTMA), Magdalena Więcek-Olszewska (former president of the jury).
– Astrophotography is one of the most demanding fields of photography. This year, the volume of submissions was extremely high, we were delighted with many of the photos, some of which were discussed by us extensively. Out of the 361 photos submitted by 116 authors from 22 countries around the world, we managed to select the most beautiful photos of this year’s edition – says Magdalena Maszewska, co-ordinator of the AstroCamera competition.
The idea for the competition was born in 2011, when Hevelianum was celebrating the 400th anniversary of Johannes Hevelius’ birthday. Since 2014, the competition has been international and winners are announced in three categories: Category I – Deep Space Objects, these include galaxies, nebulae or star clusters, Category II – Solar System Objects, such as the Sun, the Moon, planets, comets and all associated phenomena, and Category III – Astro-landscape – which concerns all objects and phenomena in the sky exposed with the Earth’s landscape. Today, it is one of the most prestigious international astrophotography competitions in the world. All award-winning photographs and honourable mentions to date can be viewed at www.astrocamera.pl.
AstroCamera 2023 competition WINNERS
Category I – Deep Space Objects
1st place – Ireneusz Nowak (Poland):
2nd place – Rolf Wahl Olsen (New Zealand)
3rd place – Nicolas Rolland (France), Péter Feltóti (Hungary), Soumyadeep Mukherjee (India)
Honourable mention – Patrick Winkler (Austria), Panagiotis Galanopoulos (Germany), Mateusz Wiśniewski (Poland), Łukasz Sujka (Poland)
Category II – Solar System Objects
1st place – Lionel Majzik (Hungary)
2nd place – Łukasz Sujka (Poland)
3rd place – Flávio Fortunato (Brazil)
Honourable mention – Lóránd Fényes (Hungary), Soumyadeep Mukherjee (India)
Category III – Astro-landscape
1st place – Tomas Slovinsky (Slovakia)
2nd place – Wioleta Gorecka (Iceland)
3rd place – Marcin Rosadzinski (Poland)
Honourable mention – Marcin Lilla (Polska), Dmytro Prykhodko (Ukraine), Dario Giannobile (Italy), Cristóbal Sánchez (Chile)
All award-winning photographs and photo series can be viewed in the gallery at: www.astrocamera.pl/en
Organizer: Hevelianum, City of Gdańsk
Honorary Patronage: European Southern Observatory (ESO), Polish Space Agency (POLSA), the Association of Polish Art Photographers (ZPAF), and the Polish Society of Amateur Astronomers (PTMA).
Media: Urania – Postępy Astronomii, Radio Gdańsk
Competition coordinator: Magdalena Maszewska
