What is the purpose of an astronomical imaging contest?
I’ve mulled over this for a time and think the answer is simply to provide recognition for the imaging skills of astrophotographers. I suspect judging takes into account 1) various technical aspects of gathering the data and 2) showcasing the intrinsic beauty or features of the object in question.
Point 2) is essential.... Much can be gleaned from traditional daylight photography and compositional techniques. Images need to be interesting, captivating and draw the viewer in for a closer look.
Point 1) raises a lot of questions about equipment.
But it is simply not the case he/she with the best gear wins.
To be sure, not having to fight your imaging equipment to capture data helps, but knowing how to effectively use what you have is essential to getting great data to create your next astronomical masterpiece.
....and there is the rub for pay per kilobyte imaging. In time, Internet based software will allow the downloading of perfect data without the user having to know one end of a telescope from another.
You will still have to be a photoshop artisan....but you’re not confronted with having to make a silk purse from a sows ear.. as happens all to frequently off-the-shelf
(and often expensive) equipment. Just buying data does nothing to indicate an astrophotographers skill prior to an exposure.
I believe it is a bit like getting Ansel Adams (or even Helmut Newton
) to set up the web-camera/tripod/lights, you log on and click “expose”. Clearly some amazing images can be captured thus...and perhaps a forum should also be given to such images (and in many ways, already is, with works of Gendler, GaBany et al. in S&T etc.)
But in so far as a
contest goes, “all my own work” is the only fair model.
It does not stop anyone savvy enough to set up their own remote imaging telescope (seriously hard-core! ) but does draw a line in the sand as to what is considered a real and fair test of an individual’s imaging skill and what is not.