Welcome to the AAS
Founded in 1923 and now with over 600 members, the Auckland Astronomical Society is one of New Zealand's largest
We are based at the Auckland Observatory and provide for all levels of interest and expertise in astronomy. We are committed to educating our members in the science of astronomy and to keeping them up-to-date with current astronomical developments and discoveries.
The Society members provide voluntary support for the Stardome Observatory public programs.
2019 NZ Astrophotography Competition
Calling all Astrophotographers, it's that time of year again, time to get your entries in for the 2019 New Zealand Astrophotography competition, this year we are super lucky to have the "Bad Astronomer" Phil Plait revise his role as judge for the competition, Phil is an is an American astronomer, skeptic, writer and popular science blogger. Phil is best known for debunking misconceptions in Astronomy but is also a well known Astrophotography enthusiast, he received his PHD in Astronomy at the University of Virginia in 1994, during the 1990s, Plait worked with the COBE satellite and later was part of the Hubble Space Telescope team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, working largely on the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. In 1995, he published observations of a ring of circumstellar material around a supernova (SN 1987A), which led to further study of explosion mechanisms in core-collapse supernovae.
As in previous years we are lucky to have Australian Sky & Telescope on board as sponsors of both the Deep Sky category and the Nightscape / Artistic category, the winners of these categories will receive a one year subscription to the magazine as well as having their images printed in the magazine.
We are also lucky to have Astronz sponsor the Solar System category with a $300 Astronz gift voucher, Astronz is easily New Zealand's best known and most trusted supplier of Astronomical equipment.
The Auckland Astronomical Society will also provide a cash prize for each category winner.
We are also lucky to have Stardome Observatory and Planetarium print a selection of the entrants images for an astrophotography exhibition that will be displayed at Stardome after the competition awards are announced, the exhibition will then tour around New Zealand at various events and galleries.
The competition cutoff date is the 30th of September and the competition awards will be announced at the annual Burbidge dinner which is the Auckland Astronomical Society's premier annual event, keep an eye out on the society website for details on the forthcoming Burbidge dinner.
Looking forward to seeing all your images and wishing you all clear skies.
Competition Rules
https://www.astronomy.org.nz/Documents/Journal/2019%20nz%20astrophoto%20comp%20conditions%20of%20entry.doc.pdfEntry Form
https://www.astronomy.org.nz/Documents/Journal/2019%20%20hw%20astrophoto%20competition%20entry%20form.doc.pdf