Beautiful space photography from the 2013 CWAS Awards

The winners of the 2013 Central West Astronomical Society Astrophotography Awards have been announced. Take a look through the amazing images.

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Lexy Savvides

July 14, 2013 11:15 p.m. PT

1 of 9 Martin Pugh

NGC 3718

The winners of the 2013 Central West Astronomical Society (CWAS) Astrophotography Awards have been announced.

Photographers vied for AU$10,000 in equipment from Canon that was up for grabs. Judged by Dr David Malin, the renowned astrophotographer who the awards are named after, winning images were chosen based on their ability to capture the beauty of the sky and an interest in astronomy in an "aesthetically pleasing way". Martin Pugh was the overall winner, taking out the grand prize of a 5D Mark III and EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L II USM lens for his image entitled "NGC 3718".

The permanent exhibition of this year's winning photos is on display now at Parkes Observatory. A touring exhibition of works will stop in at locations across Australia, with the first held at Sydney Observatory from August 2013. More details on the images themselves and runners-up can be found on the CWAS page.

Deep Sky category winner and overall winner.