Stunning Beauties Of Earth & Sky! ...

[po2wq]

winning entries of ze international earth n sky foto contest on dark skies ...

 

[po2wq]

The first winner of the contest and the highest voted by TWAN team is “Temple Night” by Chris Kotsiopoulos from Greece, presenting a panoramic view from the Poseidon temple in Cape Sounion of Greece with a starry sky in one direction and immense light pollution of Athens toward the other horizon. Placed in the contest category of Against the Lights, the photo won an Explore Scientific127mm refractor telescope and $150 certificate gift from OPT. As noted by David Malin “A powerful wide angle picture that meets all the criteria of the competition with style, technical skill and in an elegant composition.”

 

[po2wq]

The first prize in the Beauty of Night Sky category is “Full Moon Rainbow” by Tony Rowell who receives a Celestron CG5 computerized telescope mount. The photo is taken from the Yosemite Falls of California in a moonlit night. As noted by David Malin “It’s a strong, beautifully executed composition, blending a starry night sky, moonlight and a magnificent landscape in a most imaginative way.”

 

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“Milky Way above Romania” by Cristina Tinta Vass is the second winner in the Against the Light category, receiving the prize of a 70mm ED Stellarvue refractor telescope and $150 gift certificate from OPT. As noted by Babak Tafreshi “The splendid Milky Way above the light dome of a city is very dramatic in this photo, showing the contrast between natural look of the sky and artificially light dominated cities.”

 

[po2wq]

The second winner in the Beauty of Night Sky is “Light House and Stars” by Larry Andreasen, receiving the prize of Meade LXD75 computerized telescope mount. The photo is taken from coast of Oregon in USA, framing a seaside starry night and strong rays from a light house. As noted by TWAN member John Goldsmith “It’s a surreal, mystical image”.

 

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“Observatory and Capital” by Mahdi Zamani who receives $300 gift certificate from OPT. The Iranian night sky photographer made this panoramic image from Byurakan Observatory near Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. The Moon sets in the right and lights of the nearby city dominate the southern view of the observatory. As noted by Babak Tafreshi “There are many leading observatories of the past decades which are now severely affected by lights from enlarging cities.”

 

[po2wq]

“Lights of Los Angeles” by Ali Douraghy who receives $200 gift certificate from OPT and one year subscription to Sky&Telescope. The panoramic photo shows the lights of this metropolitan as seen from the Griffith Observatory. As noted by David Malin “What a spectacular waste of energy! And what a spectacle, all the way to Santa Catalina Island.”

 

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“Lights vs .Stars” by Fredrik Broms who receives $130 gift certificate from OPT and one year subscription to Sky&Telescope. The image is taken near Kvaloya in Norway. As noted TWAN member Anthony Ayiomamitis “It’s good and evil. One photo that shows both dark skies and light polluted skies.”

 

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“Stargazers” by Valentin Grigore who receives an Astrodon 1.25” H-alpha 5nm filter and one year subscription to Sky&Telescope. The photo is made during a public observing night above a hill overlooking Targoviste, a city in Romania. Moon and Venus are coupled in the evening sky. As noted by Mike Simmons “It’s a great composition of people and sky even though there aren’t many stars.”

 

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“Pine Tree Startrails” by Miguel Claro who receives $200 gift certificate from OPT and one year subscription to Sky&Telescope. The photo is taken in a pine forest near the Atlantic coast of Portugal. The total exposure time of about 90 minutes caused the colorful startrails.

 

[po2wq]

“Starry Night of Croatia” by Vid Nikolic who receives $130 gift certificate from OPT and one year subscription to Sky&Telescope. The wide-angle photo is taken by a digital DSLR camera in black and white mode and shows the starry sky above Sjeverni Velebit National Park in Croatia.

 

[Watchman]

Awesome thanks for the post .

 

[BlueCat]

bro po2wq

those pictures are pleasant for the eyes.
kumsia kumsia for sharing.
hoping more will follow soon.

 

[radon39]

Awesome photos. Thanks for sharing!

 

[po2wq]

other contest en3s ...

 

[po2wq]

"The one day old crescent moon is visible above one of the ancient watch towers of Anarak city in Esfahan, Iran. Aged over 150 years, this tower is one of the few magnificent towers standing on its own without any reconstructions. Indicating the starting of months in Arabic calendar, crescent moon has a significant role in Islamic calendar. In old days, Muslims climbed up to these towers to have a clearer view of the horizon in order to observe the crescent moon and announce the new month or even the new year." - Mahdi Zamani

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[po2wq]

"Lembongan is a rather unknown island next to Bali. Due to the sparse population this island has a beautiful sky if not spoiled by dusty sea climate. Storms and sunshine change fast. You can live in cottages next to the beach and it's an adventure if a storm brings so much rain that you have difficulties to breath. We have traveled there for many times." - Sighard Schraebler

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[po2wq]

Base Camp (5200m) on the Tibet side of Everest. 45-minute exposure of the north side of Everest." - Stuart Holmes

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"Atlas-III rocket launch with star trails, Cape Canaveral Florida" - Ben Cooper

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"The combination of mountain and sky and desert." - Babak Parhizkari

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