Prizes Awarded to 2018 Photo NightScape Winners

Prizes have been presented to the winners of the 2018 Photo NightScape Awards at a ceremony at the NightScapades festival, the first international festival of astrophotography to be held in France. ESO is a partner in the Photo NightScape competition, which is organised by the non-profit organisation Chasseurs de Nuits.

The winning entries, which were announced on 2 May, were chosen from almost 400 captivating astronomical timelapses and photographs. Entries were submitted to the jury across four categories — Nightscape, In Town, Timelapse and Junior, with first and second place prizes awarded in each category.

The first prize in the Nightscape category, which was open to all images captured between sunset and sunrise, went to Stefan Liebermann from Germany. He submitted a beautiful image of the Milky Way arching over the dead trees and desert landscape of the Namibian Deadvlei clay pan. His prize is a Nikon D7500 camera, a year’s subscription to Astronomy Ireland, and the coveted Photo NightScape trophy. Second place in this category went to Paul Zizka from Canada, for his stunning photograph of starlit ice climbing.

Claudia Solter from Germany was awarded first prize in the In Town category, for her composite photograph of the Milky Way and a small countryside chapel, captured during a cold winter night. Her prize is a three-day trip to the Mayo Dark Sky Festival in Ireland. Remi Ferrieri from France took second place for his captivating image of the crescent moon, Jupiter, and Venus rising behind Tour Odeon in Monaco.

First Prize in the Timelapse category goes to Xiaoxiao Liu from China for a captivating timelapse of the Milky Way revolving above the erupting volcano Mt. Yasur. Xiaoxiao braved volcanic ash, earthquakes and lava eruptions to capture the timelapse, and her prize is a five-day trip to the Dark Sky Reserve of Alqueva, Portugal. Curtis Brandon from Paraguay received the second prize.

The winner of the Junior category, which was open to French nationals under the age of 18, was Rémi Boucher, aged 17, for his captivating multiple-exposure image. He received a weekend trip for himself and a parent to Pic du Midi and the Réserve International de ciel Etoilé, as well as a Polarie star tracker. The runner-up was Alice Fock Hang, aged 8, who patiently took a long-exposure image of star trails.

This year Miguel Claro, the president of the jury, also awarded a special prize to Jeff Dai from China, for his breathtaking image of the Geminid meteor shower over Heilongjiang province, China. To capture the full splendour of the meteor shower, Jeff had to survive freezing temperatures as low as -28°C. He will receive a high-resolution print of his image mounted on aluminium.

The winners received their prizes at an awards ceremony held in Lourdes, France, as part of the NightScapades festival. The festival brings all aspects of astrophotography and the appreciation of the night sky to the general public, ranging from nocturnal landscapes and timelapses, to literature, music, paintings, and street art.

Courtesy of European Southern Observatory