The competitors is aimed toward selling and showcasing the very best of India’s fast-growing astroimaging group.
The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) looms in a predawn sky over the mountainous panorama of Ladakh, India. Credit score: Goutam Dey/Soumyadeep Mukherjee
In space science, India goes from power to power, from the recent Moon landing of Chandrayaan-3 to the launch of the solar observing satellite Aditya-L1.
That development additionally extends to the novice group: Up to now few years, the astroimaging scene in India has taken off — and the nation’s largest astrophotography contest displays that. Entries are now open for the “Aperture: Indian Astrophotographer of the Yr” (IAPY) contest, open to all Indian nationals.
The competitors, now in its second yr, is organized by Astronomads Bangla, a gaggle of 4 astroimagers who met in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic and have since hosted quite a few workshops at dark-sky websites throughout India.
“For the reason that pandemic, India not solely has seen a development in amount within the numbers of astrophotographers, but additionally in high quality,” says group co-founder Soumyadeep Mukherjee. (Right here at Astronomy, we are able to see that development anecdotally, judging by the rise in submissions to our Reader Gallery inbox.) “Indian astrophotographers have been experimenting with all of the completely different subgenres, particularly in nightscape, deep-sky and planetary pictures.”
All three genres are represented as classes within the IAPY contest. Submissions opened Sept. 15; inside the first 5 days, the organizers acquired over 100 photographs, says Mukherjee. The competition is accepting entries via Oct. 22, with outcomes to be introduced Dec. 24.
The winners and shortlisted photographs may even be introduced in an exhibition on the M. P. Birla Planetarium in Kolkata beginning the primary week of January 2024.
“This contest supplies a platform to all of the Indian astrophotographers, from vastly skilled individuals to absolutely the newcomers,” says Mukerjee. “It’s a platform to showcase their work to the world and within the course of, inspiring individuals to take up this stunning style as a interest. The competition is about making astrophotographers ‘suppose out of the field’ and supporting their expertise.”
The competition is open to Indian nationals residing each in and outdoors of India, in addition to Abroad Residents of India (a type of everlasting residency accessible to individuals of Indian origin).
For extra data and particulars on easy methods to submit photographs, go to: https://astronomadsbangla.com/competition And look out for an article by Mukerjee on astroimaging in India in an upcoming concern of Astronomy.
