Called “Melbourne Moon”, this photo came out as overall winner at this year’s Central West Astronomical Society’s astrophotography competition. Shot on November 12 of last year, it shows a full moon hovering over the Williamstown dockyards. The photographer, Phil Hart, picked up a Canon 60Da for his troubles, a camera designed specifically for astrophotography.
Speaking with The Age, Hart, who works as an engineer by day, explained how he managed to capture the image:
“I had planned it in advance using an online application that allows you to show what direction moon rise and moon set and sunrise and sunset will occur, so I used that and knew the date that I needed to be there to see the full moon rising,” Mr Hart said … “With long exposures you’re getting star trail images that are totally different to the way your eye sees the world at night but in itself is a stunning image. So you’re trying to plan and conceive shots that you can’t actually see directly whereas daytime photography is completely the opposite,” he said.
Below are some more photos from the competition. While Hart’s photo is great, I feel like a few of these are as good, if not better. I especially like Mike Salway’s photo (top left), showing a person pointing to the sky with the Milky Way Galaxy in the background.
All the photos can be viewed at the competition’s website.
Top Image: Phil Hart
Other images, clockwise from the top left: Mike Salway, Stephen Mudge, Alex Cherney, Graham Kelaher
[AstroFest 2012, via The Age]