Best Amateur Astronomy Images Announced: Awesome Pics-(who needs NASA!)

The Orion Nebula comes alive with color in 1 of 20 recently announced winning shots in the European Southern Observatory's Hidden Treasures 2010 astrophotography contest.

Diamond in the Rough:
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/8e98398e1a11.jpg[/atsimg]
Image courtesy Igor Chekalin via ESO

The Orion Nebula, a huge cloud of gas and dust that's actively forming stars, is one of the most studied and photographed celestial objects. Russian amateur astronomer Igor Chekalin decided to process this image to emphasize the relatively cool dust, which reflects starlight, rather than the hot hydrogen gas, which emits its own light.

Neon Crown:
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/038115ec6b04.jpg[/atsimg]
Image courtesy Sergey Stepanenko via ESO

Hidden deep in the constellation Corona Australis ("southern crown"), this star incubator glows because its gases are being charged by powerful radiation from the newborn stars inside. Even though NGC 6729 lies just 424 light-years from Earth—making it one of the nearest star-forming regions in the Milky Way galaxy—the nebula remains one of the least studied.

Loops of Light:
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/a2b866aacd19.jpg[/atsimg]
Image courtesy Joseph DePasquale via ESO

A mushrooming cloud of hydrogen gas—lighted up by dozens of young stars huddled near the cloud's center—spreads into interstellar space in this prize-winning picture of the nebula NGC 3582. The raw data came from the 2.2-meter La Silla telescope.

Goblin Grin (my favorite):
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/95d6708762ef.jpg[/atsimg]
Image courtesy Manuel Mejias via ESO

Looking like a ghoulish Halloween mask in this winning photo, the so-called N44 superbubble shines in vibrant color thanks to Manuel Mejas from Argentina, who processed raw data from the Very Large Telescope to create the scene.

Source: news.nationalgeographic.com...:01#/space-pictures- eso-contest-orion-nebula_31388_600x450.jpg

Well here you go. Just look at this stuff. As I indicated... who needs NASA when you got this going on?!!!

Amazing that they can do this quality of space watching from Earth. We are told we need to leave Earth to get the best pics. Perhaps but man. Tell that to these guys.

Any of you ATSers amatures that can put up some of your work? I would love to see it.

Again I say, as I have said before, I would love to have a job in the naming area of NASA.

More pics and more info at the main source article. Enjoy!

Thanks for the photos, my favorite is Diamond in the rough.

Amazing!!!! My favorite - Diamond In The Rough!

Those are awesome pics!!! Would love to see them nice and big!! Thanks for posting them... breath taking!

very beautiful. I think 'Diamond in the rough' is my favorite also, but theyre all great.

Starred and flagged.

I'd love to see this stuff first hand. It's amazing that this stuff is out there, just makes me wish we'd have a better space program!

Amazing picks there is so much in this universe we haven't discovered yet. And this is a nice little reminder that it can be quite beautiful and deadly of course. I mean hot superheated gases, and other things. It is remarkable really and thank you to these people for their contribution to science, and to you as well for posting these.


PS: Neon Crown is my fav.

reply to post by anon72


When I look at these pictures I get a sense of how insignificant we really are. The vastness of space, kind of blows your mind when you think about it. Awesome pictures, thanks for sharing!!

reply to post by anon72


Splendid, thank you!

They are all beautiful, its difficult to pick a favorite.

I like the cool colors in Goblins Grin.
Being partial to blue, I am really drawn to Diamond In The Rough.

It is a mix of hot warm and cold cool, hot and cold, fire and ice, lava into the ocean.

I am glad that you all liked them.

I think they are some of the more impressive photos I have seen all year-including Hubble (in some areas). Hubble still rocks-of course.

I think ATS could host it's own amature Space Phote contest. I think it would be a hit.

reply to post by anon72


Also, It was too late for me to edit the title but it should read/add:

The best of 2010.

My bad.