Astrophotography & Art Contests

ASTRO-IMAGING & ART/SKETCHING COMPETITION

Chuck Allen and Terry Mann of the Astronomical League will host an astrophotography and astro-art competition at the 2026 MSRAL Convention. Winners will receive engraved medals and certificates. 

Here are samples of the 3-inch medals: 

GENERAL CATEGORIES

    Medals will be awarded in seven categories as follows:

• Deep Sky (>500 mm focal length; no solar system) 

• Solar System (>500 mm focal length) 

• Rich Field (201-500 mm focal length) 

• Wide Field (up to 200 mm focal length) 

• Smart Telescopes 

• Art and Sketching 

• Youth Eligibility. 

ELEGIBILITY

To win, you must 

(1) be registered at the convention, 

(2) earn less than $2,000 annually from the sale of your images and/or your art, and 

(3) register your image/art with contest officials and receive a Post-It number for display with each item entered. 

Each entry must be in physical form, i.e. not electronic. For example, a printed 8”x10” print. Entries in multiple categories. 

ENTRIES IN MULTIPLE CATEGORIES.  An entry may be submitted in more than one category, but each category must have its own submission. For example, many Smart Telescope images are also applicable to the Rich Field category. So two (2) images must be submitted, one image must be submitted in the Rich Field category and another image in the Smart Telescope category. If the same image is also applicable to the Youth category, then a third image must be submitted to the Youth category as well. Youth Category. 

YOUTH CATEGORY.  Medals will also be awarded to young attendees, whose age is up thru 25, for images submitted into the Youth category. 

Judging.  Entries will be voted on by convention attendees using anonymous ballots distributed with registration packages. Voters will be asked to rank their top three choices in each category. Zipf’s Law is used to accumulate points (1 pt. for a first-place vote, 1/2 point for a second-place vote, 1/3 point for a third-place vote). 

Rules. You may enter up to 3 images per category, but each image stands alone within each category. Please note that Zipf’s Law greatly reduces the self-competition effect if you enter 3 images or fewer in a category. Display images anonymously if possible. 

Winners receive only the highest medal earned in each category but may win a medal in more than one category. 

Schedule. Instructions on registering your entries will be conspicuously posted by Noon on Friday. Here are important dates and times: 

All entries must be entered and displayed by noon Saturday. 

Voting takes place from noon to 4 PM Saturday. 

Best of luck! 

Chuck Allen, Terry Mann and the Chair, MSRAL 2026