Australia photography awards showcase beauty of spacePublished18 July 2016Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Judith Conning/CWASImage caption, The David Malin Astrophotography award started with a just a handful of entries 12 years ago.Image source, James Stone/CWASImage caption, It now attracts nationwide attention with hundreds of submissions and celebrates some of best Australia's astronomical photography.Image source, Peter Hilkmann/CWASImage caption, The annual competition is open to all amateur astronomers across the country, aiming to encourage new developments in photography and a wider interest in astronomy.Image source, Chris Marklew/CWASImage caption, Awards judge David Malin said in addition to aesthetic merit the awards recognise the technical complexity of night-time photography.Image source, Stephen Humpleby/CWASImage caption, "Getting the colours right is very important and you have to have some knowledge of the nature of the stars to get the colours right," he told the BBC.Image source, Peter Ward/CWASImage caption, The winners of the competition were announced on the weekend and are on display at the Parkes Observatory in New South Wales.Image source, Troy Casswell/CWASImage caption, This year's top prize was awarded to photographer Troy Casswell for his widefield image depicting the full constellation Orion.Image source, Stefan Buda/CWASImage caption, Mr Hall said night-time photography was open to anyone who wanted to get involved.Image source, Neil Creek/CWASImage caption, "You might need some expensive stuff if you want to do really fancy things but an off-the-shelf camera will get you started," he said.More on this storyBeauty beyond - winning astronomy photographyPublished18 September 2015The photographer who made Australia his canvasPublished8 March 2015