If you are an astrophotographer, you might be interested in entering some of the many astrophotography competitions and contests that are held every year. These events are a great opportunity to showcase your work, get feedback from experts, and compete with other talented photographers from around the world.
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Royal Museums Greenwich Astronomy Photographer of the Year Competition (Competition has closed)
This is one of the most prestigious and popular worldwide astrophotography competitions, run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich in London, UK. It has nine categories:
Aurorae
Galaxies
Our Moon
Our Sun
People and Space
Planets, comets, and asteroids
Skyscapes
Stars and nebulae
Young competition.
There are special prizes for young photographers, newcomers, and image innovation. The overall winner receives £10,000, and the winning images are displayed in an exhibition at the National Maritime Museum.
Entry requirements
Entries to the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition open on Thursday 4 January 2024 and must be received by midday (GMT) on Tuesday 5 March 2024.
For adults, a one-off non-refundable entry fee of £10.00 is required from each entrant. Entrants who only enter the special prizes will not have to pay a fee.
Entry is free to the Young competition. Young entrants must be aged 15 or under on the competition's closing date.
For more information and to enter visit the RMG website.
Sky-Watcher Australia Astrophotographer of the Year Awards 2024 (Competition has closed for 2024)
The Sky-Watcher Australia Astrophotographer of the Year Awards are open to people from Australia and New Zealand, with an international open category. Winners will share in a prize pool of over 16,000 AUD. It is free to enter and has five categories:
Deep Space
Nightscape (Wide Field Landscapes)
Solar System (Planets, Moon, Sun, Comets)
Aurora Australis
International Open.
Entry requirements
Competition open dates and times: 23/12/23 9:00 EST.
Competition close dates and times: 31/03/24 23:00 EST.
Images must be submitted as JPG files with 2048px on the long edge in SRGB.
Deep Space, Solar System, and International Open images must be taken with a Sky-Watcher OTA.
Maximum entry is five images per category.
For more information and to enter visit the Sky-Watcher Australia website.
David Malin Awards (Competition is now open)
The David Malin Awards are an annual astrophotography competition in Australia, named after the world-renowned astrophotographer Dr David Malin1. The competition is run by the Central West Astronomical Society and showcases the best images of the night sky captured by amateur astronomers and photographers. There is an entry fee of 15 AUD per entry. The competition has various categories, such as:
Wide-Field
Deep Sky
Solar System
Nightscapes
Animated Sequences
Smartphone Astrophotography
Junior
Themed
The theme for the 2024 competition is "Working with Light in the Night".
Entry requirements
Competition opens: Wednesday, 1 March 2024
Entries Close: 23:59 (AEST) on Monday 1 July 2024
Presentation of Awards: Saturday, 28 September 2024
Exhibition Launch: Sunday, 29 September 2024
Images must be JPG files and a maximum of 4,950 pixels on the longest edge.
Images must be Adobe 1998 RGB.
Maximum of five entries per category.
For more information and to enter visit the Central West Astronomical Society website or the David Malin Awards website.
South Downs National Park Astrophotography Competition (Currently closed)
The South Downs National Park Astrophotography Competition is an annual contest that celebrates the beauty of the night sky within the South Downs National Park in the UK. It is open to anyone who can capture a striking image of the stars, the moon, or nature at night over the park’s landscape. The winners receive cash prizes and their images are shared by the National Park Authority on social media and other platforms. Winners are announced at the Dark Skies Festival.
The competition has three categories:
South Downs Starry Skyscapes
Nature at Night
Magnificent Moon.
Entry requirements
The competition opens: Around November 2024. Entries must be JPG/JPEG files of at least 1 MB in file size (maximum file size 10 MB).
Maximum entry is five images in total. Images must be taken within the official boundaries of the South Downs National Park.
For more information and to enter visit the Southern Downs National Park website.
Bintel Astrophotographer of the Year (Currently closed)
The Bintel astrophotography competition is open to Australian and New Zealand residents only. The competition has four categories:
Deep Sky
Solar System
Wide Field
Junior.
Winners share in a prize pool of 2000 AUD.
Entry requirements
The competition opens around October 2024.
Entries must be in digital form (5MB limit JPG or PNG).
Maximum of 2 entries per person.
For more information and to enter visit the Bintel website. Additionally, customers can submit images at any time for a chance to be featured on their social media platforms and win store credit.
European Astrofest (Competition is now closed for 2024)
The European AstroFest imaging competition begins in February 2024. The winners will share in prizes from Celestron. Finalists will have their images displayed at AstroFest. The winners will be announced during an on-stage presentation.
There are three categories:
Under-18
Solar System
Deep sky.
Entry requirements
The competition opens in February 2024.
For more information and to enter visit the European Astrofest website.
AstroCamera (Compeition has now closed for 2024)
AstroCamera is an annual competition organised by Hevelianum. The competition is open to all astrophotographers worldwide. Winners will share in a cash prize pool. There are three categories:
Deep Space Objects
Solar System Objects
Astrolandscape.
Entry requirements
The competition opens 28.01.2024
The competition closes 31.05.2024
Winners are announced 16.08.2024
Maximum of 5 entries, in all categories combined, however, within each category, a maximum of one photo or series of photos may be awarded. The preferred file size (.jpg or .tiff) is max 50 Mb.
Images must not include any signatures, descriptions, or watermarks.
For more information and to enter refer to the AstroCamera website.
nPAE (Precision Astro Engineering) Astrophotography Competition
The competition is open to all astrophotographers worldwide. Group entries are also welcome. There is no entry fee. Winners share in a cash prize pool.
Entry requirements
Northern Hemisphere: Opens 1 December 2023. Closes 28 February 2024.
Southern Hemisphere: Opens 1 June 2024. Closes 31 August 2024.
Maximum of 2 entries.
Photos must be a minimum of 600 dpi at 20x20cm.
For more information and to enter visit the nPAE website.
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD)
This is not a competition, but a daily feature by NASA that showcases a different image or video of the universe each day, along with a brief explanation by a professional astronomer. Anyone can submit their images for consideration. There are no costs involved.
More information can be found on the APOD website.
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