AstroFest 2025 winners

The European AstroFest 2025 Imaging Competition, held in London and hosted by Astronomy Now magazine, stood as one of the most inspiring astrophotography showcases in recent memory. With sponsorship by Celestron and a prize pool valued at £5,000, the event welcomed participants from across Europe and beyond to submit their finest astrophotographic work. The competition was divided into three primary categories, Under 18, Solar System, and Deep Sky, each highlighting a different facet of astronomical imaging. Entrants competed not only for the prestige of winning but also for cutting-edge equipment designed to elevate their future astrophotographic pursuits. The judging panel had the challenging task of selecting winners from an array of extraordinary submissions, each reflecting the unique blend of art, science, and technical skill required in astrophotography.

Pictured above: Under 18 - Alan Alkhaddo

AstroFest 2025 winners revealed: The year’s top astrophotographers

In the Under 18 category, Alan Alkhaddo claimed the top honor, demonstrating a remarkable mastery of technique and composition uncommon at such a young age. His winning image captured judges' attention for its clarity, thoughtful framing, and precision. The shortlisted finalists in this youth category reflected a wide range of creative vision and observational diligence. Gideon Hugelier’s submission, for example, portrayed a dynamic range of color and luminosity with an eye for contrast and depth. Tom Bourban’s entry stood out for its choice of subject and compositional balance, highlighting a sophisticated understanding of camera control and telescope alignment. Krasimir Stanislavov Stankov also earned a place among the finalists with a technically accomplished photograph that emphasized the elegant structure of a distant celestial target. Collectively, these youth entries suggested a promising future for astronomical imaging, with a new generation of photographers bringing both enthusiasm and expertise to the field.

Deep Sky - Simone Curzi

In the Deep Sky category, Simone Curzi’s submission secured the win with an image that masterfully captured a complex nebular structure glowing with ethereal colors. The photograph demonstrated perfect alignment, deep exposures, and meticulous color calibration, revealing delicate filamentary patterns of interstellar gas and dust. His work embodied the essence of deep sky astrophotography, combining extended exposures and advanced image processing to unlock otherwise hidden features of the cosmos. Not to be overshadowed, the finalists in this category delivered equally compelling content. Tom Bourban, appearing again after his Under 18 recognition, produced a deep sky image that demonstrated versatility across categories. David Molina and Rudy A. Rooth contributed entries marked by richly colored star fields and nuanced detail in distant galaxies. Sandor Csoban’s image was notable for its clarity and rendering of structural features in a star-forming region. Nigel Stanbury and Giuseppe Donatiello contributed dramatic captures of faint nebulae with perfect star shapes and balanced contrast. Claire Bradshaw and Rafael Schmall also stood out with their interpretation of classic deep sky targets, rendered in fresh stylistic treatments.

Solar System Rafael Schmall

Moving to the Solar System category, Rafael Schmall was crowned winner for his depiction of a planetary scene that combined resolution, timing, and post-processing finesse. His image offered a textbook example of planetary imaging at its finest, where atmospheric turbulence is minimized through both hardware and technique to reveal sharp planetary disc features and even surface textures. Alongside Schmall, the shortlist presented an impressive cohort of solar and planetary photographers. Anna Kaunis submitted a crisp and emotionally resonant image, notable for its tonal harmony and observational timing. Lorand Fenyes contributed a compelling work that rendered Jupiter’s complex weather systems in exquisite detail. Giuliano Fiorentini’s image revealed the intricate topography of the lunar surface, capturing both shadowed craters and sunlit peaks in dramatic contrast. Roger Allpress, Aditya Pawar, and Bill Ward each offered unique visions of the solar system, whether through high-resolution lunar mosaics or deeply saturated planetary closeups. George Roberts and Alessandro Ravagnin showed technical mastery in their image stacking and noise reduction, resulting in crystal-clear depictions of Saturn and the Moon respectively. Arne Danielsen and Charline Giroud brought more experimental perspectives to the category, employing less traditional angles or color profiles to explore planetary textures. Darshna Ladva’s image focused on chromospheric solar details, while Guy Wells FRAS delivered a refined and highly processed view of a solar prominence. Other distinguished entrants included Gianni Lacroce, José Rodrigues, Fabrizio Melandri, Mike Soulby, Łukasz Remkowicz, Gordon Ewen, and Marzena Rogozińska, each one adding diversity of subject and technique to the Solar System gallery.

Marzena Rogozińska earned recognition for a high-fidelity galaxy image that made excellent use of long integration times to achieve low-noise detail. Mike Soulby and Lorand Fenyes contributed images filled with colorful nebular clouds and sharply resolved stars. Edwin Keur and Alessandro Ravagnin impressed with well-balanced compositions that framed clusters within dark interstellar dust. Charline Giroud and Matthew McCarthy added artistic flair to their technically advanced deep sky work. Martin McCormack and Mark Wright delivered elegant visualizations of emission and reflection nebulae, demonstrating deep experience with filters and narrowband imaging. Jan Lindemann’s entry stood out for its creative framing of a rarely imaged target, while Stephen Young and Gianni Lacroce showed technical rigor in handling star halos and gradients. Regina Manso de Zuniga, Brandon Buettner, Salvatore Cucinotta, and Stephen Recaldin each submitted images that illustrated their deep familiarity with post-processing tools and techniques. Adrian Kaminski and Emil Andronic presented clear, color-accurate portrayals of galaxy groups, while Andrea Zullino, Tomasz Maro, and Lara Horvat impressed with their portrayals of nebular detail and dynamic range. Carl Gough and Nicole Poersch contributed images of stellar nurseries with vivid H-alpha detail, and José Rodrigues returned with a second shortlisted image, underscoring his versatility across categories. Paul Julier and Cosimo Secli’ rounded out the list of shortlisted deep sky photographers, each adding their own voice and visual interpretation to this richly populated category.

Under 18 Gideon Hugelier

Rules, rewards, and the broader celebration of AstroFest 2025

The 2025 competition placed strict rules on authenticity and originality. Each image had to be taken by the submitting photographer, and artificial intelligence–generated content was strictly forbidden. These guidelines ensured the purity of competition and elevated the quality of submissions by requiring full engagement with the craft of astrophotography, from planning and capturing, to stacking and editing. The images represented the culmination of hours, often nights, of effort, involving precise calibration, data reduction, and enhancement work. They captured not just the targets themselves but also the skill and patience behind the camera and telescope.

Winning entrants received Celestron telescopes suited to their respective categories, reflecting the practical benefits of victory in this event. The Under 18 winner received a Celestron NexStar 127SLT computerized telescope, an excellent tool for both planetary and deep sky observation. The Solar System category winner received the Celestron Advanced VX 8” EdgeHD, a powerful rig ideal for planetary imaging and long-exposure lunar work. The Deep Sky category winner received the Celestron RASA 8” Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt Astrograph, a specialized fast f/2.0 imaging scope designed for wide-field deep sky imaging. Each prize enabled the winners to pursue even more ambitious projects in the future, expanding their imaging capabilities and encouraging continued excellence.

Beyond the competition, the AstroFest 2025 event was filled with lectures from renowned experts in the field of astronomy and astrophysics. Speakers such as Rachael Hamp discussed subsurface oceans on Enceladus, Stephen Wilkins presented on quantum cosmology, and Eduardo Ros shared insights from radio astronomy’s role in uncovering cosmic phenomena. Other distinguished speakers included Hannah Wakeford, Martin Lewis, Mike Edmunds, and Claudia De Rham, each bringing deep academic and observational knowledge to the event. Their talks offered context for many of the competition’s themes, connecting astrophotography with broader scientific inquiries into the nature of the universe.

The exhibition hall was equally vibrant, showcasing over 30 vendors and organizations including Sky-Watcher, QSI Cameras, Pulsar Observatories, the Royal Astronomical Society, the British Interplanetary Society, and First Light Optics. Visitors browsed the latest in telescope mounts, astroimaging cameras, observatory domes, and educational resources. Attendees mingled with experts, explored new product launches, and attended live demonstrations. Companies like Orion Optics UK and the SKA Observatory emphasized cutting-edge developments in optics and radio telescope arrays, respectively, while mission-based organizations such as Mission Astro focused on space education and outreach.

European AstroFest 2025 was more than a competition, it was a celebration of celestial beauty and scientific dedication. The imaging competition played a central role in this celebration, providing a platform for amateur and professional astronomers alike to present their work to a wider audience. The exhibition and conference elements served to deepen the community's connection to the universe, bridging the gap between visual art and empirical science. For those unable to attend, Astronomy Now magazine promised a full event report, including high-resolution reproductions and in-depth commentary on the winning entries. This documentation would preserve the impact of the competition for months to come, inspiring both readers and future participants.

As AstroFest 2025 fades into memory, the echoes of its imaging competition remain. The remarkable entries remind us of the power of human curiosity, the joy of visual discovery, and the technical brilliance required to transform faint starlight into compelling works of photographic art. From the lunar highlands to distant nebulae, each image tells a story, of persistence, of imagination, and of the enduring allure of the cosmos. Through these stories, the universe continues to reveal itself not just as a domain of distant wonders, but as a canvas for creative expression, scientific exploration, and collective awe.

 

Four Telescopes, One Rig – First Light Optics interview at Astrofest 2025

Interview with Pulsar Observatories - AstroFest 2025

View the full list of AstroFest 2025 Winners