The Astrofest astrophotography competition showcases and celebrates the best of Western Australian astrophotography and astro-imaging. The best astro-images have been selected by our four judges with the help of our curator, and now images such as star trails, night-scapes, solar system objects, Sun and Moon, deep space images, timelapse video and related digital imaging are part of the 2019 exhibition.

2019 Exhibition Prizes

Congratulations to our exhibition winners for 2019, presented on stage at 6:00pm at Astrofest 2019. 
Highly Commended​
  • Martin Grasl for ‘Staircase to Venus, Gantheaume Point, Broome’
  • William Vrbasso for ‘The Skies of Crux and Carina’ and ‘From the Core to Antares’
  • Scott Murray for ‘Edith Falls, Northern Territory’
  • Dr Andrew Lockwood for ‘The Sword of Orion’ and ‘Centaurus A’
  • Paul Cooper for ‘Milky Way through a different lens’
  • Sandino Pusta for ‘The Tree of Life’
  • Brett Turner for ‘A Trio of Planets’, ‘Jupiter, King of the Planets’ and ‘The Carina Nebula (NGC 3372)’


Awards
  • People’s Choice Award 'Stars and Satellites, Annapurna Base Camp, Nepal' by Pete Gardner (voted prior to Astrofest online) 
  • People's Choice Award awarded to 'The Sword of Orion' by Dr Andrew Lockwood (voted on the night of Astrofest by exhibition attendees)
  • Houtman 400+ Southern Cross Award sponsored by the Batavia Coast Maritime Heritage Association awarded to 'The Southern Cross' by Luke Busellato.
  • Best New Talent sponsored by Pendoley Environmental, awarded to 'Wydaup Rocks Lightning' by Liz Barker.
  • Best Astronomical Landscape awarded to 'Lost City' by Scott Murray
  • Best Timelapse Video awarded to 'WA Night Sky Timelapse While Battling the Clouds' by Stephen Humpleby.
  • Best Astrophoto sponsored by Camera Electronic and SHOOT photography workshops awarded to 'NGC 6188 - The Fighting Dragons' by Brendan Mitchell.

2019 Award Winning Images

2019 Best Timelapse

Past Exhibition Catalogue PDFs

Download the full pdf catalogue from all our past Astrophotography exhibitions.

Past Award Winning Entries

Prizes for the Best Astrophoto, Best Timelapse and People's Choice have been awarded since 2014. The Best New Talent award was instated in 2016's competition and the Best Astronomical Landscape was introduced in 2019. 2019 also saw a one off special award for the best image of the Southern Cross, the Houtman 400+ Southern Cross Award. It's up to the Judges' discretion whether they award Judge's Commendations each year.

Best Timelapse Winners

The below playlist features some of the best timelapse winners from past Astrofest Astrophotography Exhibitions. The award was created in 2014 and has been awarded every year since, apart from 2016. 

Enquiries

For any questions or for astrophotographers to opt out of past exhibitions on display please contact communications@icrar.org.
Note, opted out images are not listed as prize winners in the above page, so some prize winners may be missing from listings.