Tilt Shift Photo of Andromeda Wins Astronomy Photographer of the Year - PetaPixel

The Royal Observatory Greenwich has just unveiled the winners of the coveted 2020 Astronomy Photographer of the Year awards.

Images were submitted for one of 9 categories—including Galaxies, Aurorae, Our Moon, People and Space, and Young Photographer of the Year, among others—and a total of 11 images were honored.

The winner of the Galaxies category, overall winner, and title of 2020 Astronomy Photographer of the Year went to France’s Nicolas Lefaudeux for his stunning photograph titled Andromeda Galaxy at Arm’s Length?:.

In order to obtain the tilt-shift effect, the photographer 3D-printed a part to hold the camera at an angle at the focus of the telescope.

Gear and Settings: Sky-Watcher Black Diamond 100 mm apochromatic refractor telescope at f/9, iOptron iEQ30 mount, Sony a7S camera (modified), ISO 2000, 2 hours 30 minutes total exposure.

In addition to bragging rights, Lefadeux will receive £10,000 (~$12,800) for his effort, while the Young Photographer of the Year and other category winners will walk away with £1,500 (~$1,920), and the Special Prize winners each receive £750 (~$960).

Gear and Settings: Nikon D610 camera, 35mm f/3.2 lens, ISO 3200, 18 x 13-second exposures.

Gear and Settings: Canon EOS R camera, 14mm f/1.8 lens, ISO 6400, 4 x 1.6-second exposures.

Gear and Settings: Ceslestron C9.25 telescope at f/10 and f/6.3, Orion Sirius EQ-G mount, ZWO ASI178MM and ASI178MC cameras, multiple 15-millisecond exposures.

Gear and Settings: Celestron C11 XLT Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope at f/50, Baader Solar Continuum Filter with ND3.8 AstroSolar Film, Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro mount, ZWO-ASI174MM camera, 8.431-millisecond exposure.

Gear and Settings: Sky-Watcher Quattro 200/800 astrograph telescope (modified) at f/4, Sky-Watcher EQ6-Pro GOTO mount, Canon EOS 6D camera, ISO 1600, 5 x 150-second exposures.

Gear and Settings: Sky-Watcher Newtonian 10″ telescope at f/4.8, Baader MPCC Coma Corrector filter, Sky Watcher NEQ-6 mount, ZWO ASI178 MM-C camera, 300 x 10-millisecond exposures per channel.

Caption: The photographer was searching for clear skies in Finnish Lapland to capture the beauty of a polar night and couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw what was waiting behind the clouds.

Gear and Settings: Nikon D850 camera, 120mm f/16 lens, ISO 64, 1/40-second exposure

Gear and Settings: Alluna Optics RC-16 telescope at f/8, 5nm Ha filter, Paramount ME II mount, SBIG STX-16803 camera, 32 x 10-minute exposures

Caption: The image shows the central region of the California Nebula (NGC 1499)

Gear and Settings: Sky-Watcher Quattro 200P telescope at f/4, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount, ZWO ASI1600MM Pro camera, RGB-Ha-SII composite, 7 hours 50 minutes total exposure

The image was obtained with the VISTA survey telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile and contains nearly nine billion pixels

Gear and Settings: VISTA Survey Telescope, Infrared J 1.25μm, Infrared H 1.65μm, Infrared 2.15μm channels, ESO/VVV Survey/D

The winners, runners-up, highly commended and shortlisted images will also be showcased in the Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, which opens to the public on October 23rd