Scott Garrod’s well-framed NGC 1333, with its nice range of colours, won him Photo of the Week for October 22-28.
NGC 1333 is a reflection nebula located a mere 1,000 light-years from the constellation Perseus, at the edge of a “large, star-forming molecular cloud,” according to NASA.
Garrod captured the image over five nights, between September 9 and October 22, 2022, in his backyard in Coombs, British Columbia. He used a ZWO ASI533MC PRO and an Astro-Tech AT130 EDT (f/5.6), with an exposure time of 19 hours. The frames were stacked and processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop.
Our Photo of the Week judges praised the image, ”from the dark dusty outer area, to the colourful central star forming area.” They note that “the dust pulls your view into the centre,” and that overall it is a “well-executed image of a very diverse target.”
Honourable mention
Dave Robitaille gets an honourable mention for his image of Messier 45, taken in his backyard in Saint-René-de-Matane, Québec on October 23, 2022. Messier 45, also called the Pleiades or Seven Sisters, is an open star cluster. It includes more than a thousand stars that are “loosely bound by gravity,” according to NASA.
Robitaille used a ZWO ASI2600MC Pro and a Celestron RASA 11-inch telescope (620mm focal length) to capture the image, which the judges described as having “a sort of star-burst effect” that they find appealing — and lots of detail in the blue.
Every week, SkyNews publishes the best image from among those sent in by readers from all across Canada. Whether you’re an expert or a beginner at night sky photography, we’re looking for your pictures! Enter today for your chance to win a Photo of the Week title and one of our annual prizes!
Prizes for the 2021-22 SkyNews Photo of the Week contest are sponsored by Sky-Watcher, Celestron, iOptron, The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and SkyNews. Find out more about the amazing telescopes, prize packages and gift vouchers awarded to the best photos this year.
