Southern Hemisphere Public Vote 2025
Welcome to the nPAE 2025 Southern Hemisphere Astrophotography Competition! The second instalment of our 2025 contests. Under the brilliance of the southern sky’s night, this event celebrates the artistry, patience, and passion of photographers who capture the universe in all its wonder. From dazzling constellations to the faint glow of distant galaxies, your images remind us of the beauty just above our heads. We are thrilled to showcase such talent and creativity, and we extend our heartfelt thanks to each participant for sharing their vision with us. Before our judges have the final say you can take part by awarding the bragging rights of winning the Public Vote! You have just one vote so read through each entry before making your choice.
In country and name order the final 12 are:
Argentina – Carlos
Carlos from Argentina enters “I see dead people” of NGC 7293 the Helix Nebula. Equipment used: Askar FRA400 telescope, ZWO ASI533MC Pro, ZWO AM5 mount, ZWO ASIAIR Plus, ZWO EAF, ZWO 120 miniguide scope, ZWO ASI585MC camera for guiding and an Optolong L-eNhance filter. Digitally processed with PixInsight
Argentina – Gabriel
The second entry from Argentina is Gabriel with “The Guardian of the Dragon Egg”. NGC6188 and NGC6164. Equipment used: ASKAR ACL200 + ZWO ASI2600AIR + ZWO AM3. Digital processed 100% in PixInsight. Linear stage: Cropping – Gradient correction – Color calibration – Sharpening – Noise reduction – Star and nebula separation. Non-linear stage: Image stretching – Dynamic range compression – Contrast and saturation adjustments – Star and nebula recombination – Final detail tuning.
Australia – Ali
Last year’s winner is back again for the 1st Australian entry. It’s Ali with “The whirling Dervish and the Banana”. NGC3247 and NGC 3199. Equipment used: Founder Optics 106 Triplet, WarpAstron WD 20 Harmonic mount, ZWO 2600 MM PRO, ZWO EAF, ZWO EFW, ZWO HSO narrowband filters. Stacked and processed in PixInsight.
Australia – Nick
Our 2nd Australia entry is Nick with Gabriela Mistral SHO – NGC 3324. Produced with 15.6 hours of 600 and 300 sec subs. Equipment used: Imaging Telescopes: TS-Optics Photoline 130mm f/7 FPL53 Triplet Apo (APO130f7-P) Imaging Cameras: ZWO ASI294MC Pro, Mount: Sky-Watcher NEQ6-Pro, Filters: Askar ColourMagic D2 (Sii+Oiii) Duo Narrow Band 6nm 2″ · Optolong L-Ultimate 2″, Accessories: APM-Riccardi Apo Reducer 0.75x M63 (APM-RIRED-M63-small), Guiding Scope: ZWO 60mm guide scope, Guiding Cameras: ZWO ASI178MM, Software: Adobe Photoshop · Aries Productions Astro Pixel Processor (APP) Pixinsight. Processed in Pixinsight and finished off in Photoshop SHO Palette. Stacked and extracted in Astropixel Processor.
Australia – Rod
The 3rd Australia entry is from Rod, who you will recognise as winning the Northern Hemisphere stage earlier this year. For the Southern Hemisphere he enters “Jewel of the South”: The Tarantula Nebula. Equipment Used: Telescope: Askar 130PHQ; Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro; Filters: Antlia 3nm Narrowband 36 mm S+H+O. Total Integration: 33h 30m under Bortle 6 skies. Digital processing methods employed: The raw data was calibrated, aligned, and stacked in PixInsight using Weighted Batch Preprocessing (WBPP). LocalNormalization was applied to manage transparency fluctuations across multiple sessions. GraXpert was then used for background extraction to correct gradients from suburban skies. StarXTerminator was employed to separate stars from the nebula, enabling independent processing. The nebula was treated with DeepSNR for noise reduction, BlurXTerminator for structural enhancement, and GHS stretching to balance the intense bright core against the intricate outer filaments. Narrowband channels were mapped in an SHO palette, carefully balanced to highlight the chaotic interplay of ionised gases while preserving subtle texture. The star layer was processed separately, with colour calibration and restrained adjustments, before being recombined with the nebula. Final refinements, including contrast optimisation and colour adjustments, were applied in Photoshop to achieve a presentation true to the data yet visually impactful. Additional Photographers notes: The Tarantula Nebula, nestled within the Large Magellanic Cloud, is the most active star-forming region in our galactic neighbourhood. Spanning over 1,000 light-years, it hosts massive clusters whose radiation sculpts the surrounding gas into dramatic arcs and filaments. Capturing over 33 hours of data, this image reveals the chaotic nature of stellar birth on a colossal scale – a turbulent, tangled masterpiece of cosmic creation, unmatched in its complexity and brilliance.
Australia – Rodney
Australia’s 4th is from Rodney with The Large Magellanic Cloud. Rodney is the 2022 Southern Hemisphere winner. Equipment used: Camera – ZWO ASI6200; Lens – Canon EF200mm prime lens. Filters – Astronomik 50mm Ha/OIII/SII. Digital processing methods: Image calibration, registration, integration and post processing completed in Pixinsight.
Australia – Zak
The 5th and last Australia is from Zak with The Depths of the Carina Nebula. NGC 3372. Equipment used: QHY miniCAM8, Askar 65PHQ, Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi, XiMei 7nm SHO Filters, ZWO ASI120MM Mini, ZWO 30mm f/4 Mini Scope, Wanderer Astro WandererBox Lite v3, NINA, PixInsight. Digital processing: WBPP, GraXpert, BlurXTerminator, StarXTerminator, ChannelCombination to Create SHO Image, NarrowbandNormalization Process to Fine-Tune SHO Palette, NoiseXTerminator, EZ Soft Stretch, LocalHistogramEqualization, HDRMultiscaleTransform, SelectiveColorCorrection Script, ImageBlend Script, Seti Astro NB to RGB Stars Script to Create Narrowband Stars, Seti Astro Star Stretch Script, ScreenStars Script to Place Stars Back in Image.
Brazil – Fernando 1
Brazil gets 2 entries in this year’s Southern Hemisphere stage from Fernando. Firstly with NGC 6729 – Corona Australis. Equipment used: Zwo AM3, Asiair Mini. Camera: Asi294MC Pro + Asi120mm mini. Reducer Askar f3.9. Telescope: Askar FRA400. Filter L-pro. ZWO Mini Guider 30mm f4. NGC6729 or Caldwell 68 is a reflection/emission nebula located in the constellation of Corona Australis, approximately 400 light-years away, making it one of the closest star formation regions to our solar system. Digital processing: Pixinsight.
Brazil – Fernando 2
Fernando’s second entry is The Blue Horsehead Nebula (IC 4592). Equipment used: Zwo AM3, Asiair Mini. Camera: Asi294MC Pro + Asi120mm mini. Reducer Askar f3.9. Telescope: Askar FRA400. Filter L-pro. ZWO Mini Guider 30mm f4. The Blue Horsehead Nebula (IC 4592) is a faint reflection nebula in the Scorpius constellation that is lit by Nu Scorpii. The Nebula is about 40 light-years across, located some 420 light-years away near the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. Digital processing: Pixinsight
Peru – Carlos
Carlos from Peru enters The Cosmic Butterfly Nebula. NGC 2899. Equipment used: 8″ f/3.9 Newtonian telescope. ZWO ASI 715 MC camera. EQ6R-PRO Sky-Watcher mount. ZWO Duo-Band filter. Digital processing: 180 × 60s exposures (3 hours total integration). Stacking in DeepSkyStacker. Processing in PixInsight: cropping, background extraction, color calibration, deconvolution, noise reduction, linear stretching, star reduction, color saturation, contrast adjustment. Post-processing in Photoshop.
South Africa – Gerald
Representing South Africa is non-other than Gerald, winner of the 2023 Southern Hemisphere stage and the 2023 World Champion vote! He returns this year with The Running Chicken. IC 2944. Equipment used: ZWO ASI2600MM Pro cooled to -5 deg C. AT127EDT triplet refractor. Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount. ASI290MM mini mono guide camera and an Orion 60mm Guidescope. Sesto Senso 2 Robotic Focuser. Pegasus Pocket Powerbox Micro. Astrozap Dew Heater Bands. Permanent steel pier in my home garden. Famously known as the Running Chicken Nebula or the Lambda Centauri Nebula, is a celestial object located in the constellation Centaurus. It’s a combination of an open star cluster and an associated emission nebula. I captured this over the nights of the 8th, 9th and 23rd March 2025 from my home. Digital processing: My image comprises 4h20 of narrowband and RGB integration. After removing the stars from the narrowband images these were then processed into the SHO pallet colour image. I removed the RGB stars from the RGB images and then added them back in to the SHO image taking care not to allow the stars to dominate the final image. All stacking and processing in PixInsight with the final image converted to JPG using Lightroom Classic.
United States – Deborah
Deborah from the United States get the vacation entry with “Magellanic Clouds Teaser” taken whilst in Chile. In her own words “As a member of the 2024 Astronomy in Chile Educator Ambassadors Program (ACEAP) cohort, I am humbled to have had the opportunity to visit Chile this summer. On 6/29/25 we were at Alfa Aldea outside of La Serena, walking at sunset from one spot to another which would be our ‘dark site’ for the evening. I stopped in my tracks, without getting out my gear, when I saw the Magellanic Clouds hovering over the horizon, about to set, with the beautiful Chilean Andes in the foreground. Snapped a photo with just my cellphone camera and caught a meteor, too! This is the only time on the whole trip that I caught these two stinkers–galaxies playing hide and seek with me–since we were battling some sunset clouds and a first quarter moon. Hope you enjoy the photo (even with the vignetting!).” Equipment used: Google Pixel 6 Pro. Digital processing: Just a bit of stretching.
A tough choice! Use the voting panel below the nPAE 2″ Flip Mirror. Check the box of the photo you want to vote for and then click the vote button.
The Public Vote Closes at 00:00 British Summer Time on 23rd September 2025.
This year’s Public Vote Winner is Nick from Australia with Gabriela Mistral SHO – NGC 3324! Congratulations!
