Astrophotography exhibition at UAL and winners of the III Calar Alto Contest Astrophotography

José Cabello Ariza and Carlos Malagó, two of the winners of the 3rd contest, along with Blas Fuentes, head of the cultural hall at Almeria University, and Javier Barbero, secretary of the association.

The works awarded at the 2^nd astrophotography and time-lapse contest are exhibited in Almeria University (lecture room building IV).

During the opening ceremony, diplomas were given to the winners of the 3^rd edition; their works will be part of next year display, organized by the University halls of Culture and Astronomy. Pictures of the Moon, Venus, nebulae and galaxies bring the treasures of our Solar System and Universe to the University campus.

The large format pictures display lunar craters and details on the stellar formations in nebulae.

With this contest, organized by the Spanish-German Astronomical Center in Calar Alto, the association of friends of Calar Alto and the Orion Astronomical Association, in collaboration with the University of Almeria, we want to show the artistic side of Astronomy outreach.

The winners will have the opportunity to spend three days at Calar Alto observatory. During the nights, they will use the 1.23-m telescope to observe and take pictures of the sky from the Filabres mountain range, catalogued as the best sky in Europe.

The exhibition may be seen throughout the month of May in the lecture room building, then it will be part of the Calar Alto observatory collection.

Finally you can see the works awarded at the III Calar Alto Contest Astrophotography and Time-Lapse 2018.

Due to the high-quality of the works presented, the selection has been harsh for the committee, and some very nice works could not even receive a mention. We encourage those unlucky participants, and new ones, to participate in the next contest. All the selected photographies can be seen below. Enjoy!

CATEGORY: DEEP SKY PHOTOGRAPHY
First Prize Cederblad51 Miguel Angel García Borrella
First Mention Nebulosa de la burbuja Juan Ignacio Jiménez	Second Mention NGC 3034 Carlos Malagón	Third Mention Nebulosa del Pez Juan Ignacio Jiménez

CATEGORY: PLANETARY PHOTOGRAPHY
First Prize Luna 25FEB2018 José Manuel Cabello Ariza
First Mention Jupiter-GRS Antonio Lasala García	Second Mention Ptolomeo-Alphonsus-Arzachel Antonio Lasala García	Third Mention Saturno Juan Luis Cánovas