Eligibility

Any photograph you submit to the competition must be your original photograph, and you must be the sole owner of the copyright of the photograph(s) submitted. Additionally, all entries must be the result of photographic process using a camera and be constructed from real astronomical light. Any equipment used in the creation of your images must either be owned by yourself or a family member, or rented via membership to an astronomical society. Images taken with publicly or privately operated remote telescopes are not permitted.

Upon submitting your entry, you will be required to confirm that:

• The image is entirely your own original work.
• The image does not infringe the rights of any third party, including copyright or privacy rights.
• Any identifiable individuals shown in the image have given their explicit permission.
• Where the image includes minors or vulnerable adults, consent has been obtained from a parent or legal guardian.
• All entries have been taken within five years of the competition opening date and have not previously been awarded at any other competition.

Employees of the Royal Astronomical Society and their immediate families, judges, sponsors, or any individuals directly involved in the competition’s administration are not eligible.

Permitted processing

(a) Allowed:

• Basic edits: tone, contrast, cropping, sharpening, dodging, burning, noise reduction, and minor clean-up.
• In-camera techniques: HDR, stitched panoramas, stacking from multiple exposures taken at the same place/time.
• Software techniques like focus stacking and post-processing.
• The use of AI tools for denoising and deep stacking only.

(b) Not Allowed:

• Composite images, AI-generated images, digital illustrations or scientific visualisations.
• Adding/removing animals, plants, people, or objects.
• Any images altered in ways that misrepresent reality.

Any entry that cannot be authenticated or is not of an acceptable quality will be disqualified. We reserve the right to ask you to supply a range of ‘before’ and ‘after’ original files for any photograph that requires further authentication.

AI-generated images are not permitted. Although processing of an image using some machine learning software is permitted, images must be constructed from real astronomical light captured using photographic equipment. Upon submission, you will be asked to confirm that no AI tools have been used in the creation of your images. Should your photograph be listed for the final round of judging, it will be inspected for AI manipulation.

Winners

If you are successful, you will be notified in strict confidence via email before the public announcement. It is a condition of entry that you do not disclose the details of any shortlisted or winning entries to any third party.

If a winner does not respond within 30 days, the prize may be forfeited and awarded to another entrant.

Sponsorship

The competition may be sponsored by such organisations as chosen by The Royal Astronomical Society at the Society’s discretion.