Some have suggested this is not a "real thread" (whatever that means) but the Royal Observatory APOTY competition consistently attracts thousands of entrants from 60 odd countries, gets global media attention, an impressive exhibition space at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, plus a superb Harper-Collins hardcover publication of the winning and shortlisted entries for the year.
There is a relatively new, privately run competition based in Melbourne that has no affiliation with any Astronomical institution (e.g. Royal Observatory, CSIRO, AAO) but is marketed well via social media etc. with a snazzy web site, significant entry fees and sells tickets for all manner of advice and participation. Probably a very nice little earner for the organisers (do the math, assuming say sponsors stumped up for the prizes, plus $100 in fees per entrant that's $50k net! )
While I choose not to enter that particular contest, some talented astrophotographers have, and to be fair, good luck to them. They are still "playing cricket", but to paraphrase: Steve Waugh was apparently playing a grade cricket game and ducked an awkward bouncer. The bowler remarked "you are not in a fancy test cricket match now".
Waugh retorted, "Yeah, I know because you are bowling".
Sure it's nice to win a grade cricket match, but it's not the same as playing in a Test series.
