The 2011 International Photo Contest Winners Announced
Selected from submissions by photographers in about 30 countries, the winners of 2011 Earth and Sky Photo Contest display the beauties of night sky and its battle with light pollution.
2011 May 09: Winners of the Second International Earth and Sky Photo Contest on Dark Skies Importance are announced. Two global programs of Astronomers Without Borders came together to organize this annual contest: The World at Night and Global Astronomy Month. Submissions to the contest had been received during the 2011 Global Astronomy Month (April). Submitted photographs were all taken since the beginning of 2010 and were all created in the “TWAN style”—showing both the Earth and the sky—by combining elements of the night sky set against the Earth horizon with backdrop of a notable location or landmark. This style of photography is called “landscape astrophotography”.
The contest was open to anyone of any age, anywhere around the world. About 240 entries were received with images made from about 30 countries including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Chile, China, Columbia, Cambodia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Portugal, Solvakia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, UK, USA, and Venezuela. Nearly 25% of the entries were from the United States. Other major contributors were Iran, Germany and China.
According to the contest theme of “Dark Skies Importance”, the submitted photos were judged in two categories: “Beauty of the Night Sky” and “Against the Lights”. The selected images are those most effective in impressing people on both how important and amazing the starry sky is and how it affects our lives, and also how bad the problem of light pollution has become. Today, most city skies have become virtually empty of stars. Light pollution obscures the stars, interferes with astronomical observatories and, like any other form of pollution, disrupts ecosystems and has adverse health effects.
Against the Lights
Beauty of the Night Sky
