2021 was another harsh year for the World in general, and for night sky lovers too, due to the remaining lockdowns and curfews applied in many countries. Most amateur astronomers had little chance to escape to dark, unpolluted areas to observe and to take pictures of the sky at night.

Despite this, the 6^th international contest of astrophotography, astronomical drawing and timelapse of the Calar Alto Observatory was a success, with nearly a hundred works received until September 12^th -- an unusually late deadline due to the COVID-19 pandemics.

Organized by the “Friends of Calar Alto” and "Orion" associations and by the Observatory, our international contest includes five categories. In each of them, the multiple works are carefully reviewed by a committee of experts, composed of experienced amateur and professional astronomers. Once more, the winners coming from all over Spain this year, were awarded with an unforgettable 3-night stay at the observatory in early December. They used with great pleasure the 1.23-m telescope to take pictures and videos, or to perform drawings from the crystal-clear Andalusian skies. 

The winners this year are as follows:

• Deep sky: Andrés Jobacho Sánchez, from Jerez de la Frontera.
• Planetary: Luis Miguel Azorín Albero, from Elda.
• In nightscape: Jordi Fraxanet Nadal, from Solsona.
• Astronomical drawing, Jesús Salado Castro from Chiclana de la Frontera.
• Timelapse, Alfredo Madrigal Fariña, from Ponteareas.

Here comes the long-awaited photographs and videos from the winners and mentions of the VIIth contest. This is our special Christmas gift from Calar Alto!

CATEGORY: DEEP SKY PHOTOGRAPHY
First Prize Nova y nubes en Cassiopea Andrés Jobacho
First Mention Nebulosa SH2 129 César Blanco	Second Mention Nebulosa IC 1805 Victor García	Third Mention Nebulosa LBN 468 César Blanco

CATEGORY: PLANETARY PHOTOGRAPHY
First Prize Atardecer marciano en la Luna Luis Miguel Azorín
First Mention Júpiter y la Gran Mancha Roja Carlos Baños	Second Mention Sol, gran mancha AR 2&35 y granulación Alfredo Vidal	Third Mention Composición marciana Salvador Ortega

CATEGORY: NIGHT LANDSCAPE
First Prize Reflejo galáctico Jordi Fraxanet
First Mention Vía Láctea desde Marquetalia Rubiel Andrés Ramírez	Second Mention Teselas en el cielo José María Fernández	Third Mention Vía Láctea y los campos de lavanda en Brihuega Rubiel Andrés Ramírez

CATEGORY: ASTRONOMICAL DRAWING
First Prize Juntos antes de Navidad Jesús Salado
First Mention Marte en oposición Valentín Díaz

Calar Alto Observatory is one of the infrastructures that belong to the national map of Unique Scientific and Technical Infrastructures (Spanish acronym: ICTS), approved on November 6th, 2018, by the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Council

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