Stefan Buda took the overall prize in the 23rd David Malin Awards for “The Lunar Apennines,” a sharply detailed image of the Moon’s Apennine mountain region and Hadley Rille, site of the Apollo 15 landing.
Judges said the competition rewarded more than technical skill, praising images that captured astronomy’s beauty and wonder; CWAS president John Sarkissian called Buda’s entry “simply flawless.”
7 categories were open to amateur photographers worldwide, with other winners including Jarrod Koh in Wide-Field, Andy Campbell in Deep Sky, Brighton Seeley in Nightscapes, Charlie Marzolla in the Junior section and Frank Alvaro for Editor’s Choice.
The awards are organized by Australia’s Central West Astronomical Society during AstroFest in Parkes, and the winning images will be shown at the CSIRO Parkes Observatory Visitors Centre and in a travelling Powerhouse Museum exhibition.