Aperture Telescopes is quite happy to be the Title Sponsor of this prestigious annual astrophotography contest in India.
Congratulations to all the winners for contributing their best astro-images. This year the quality of images in the deep sky section were world class. We hope that this contest keeps growing year after year.
Nightscape Winner:
Soumya Banerjee for his image Stat Tso


Nightscape Runner-Up:
Thiruchitrambalam M for his Starry Hanle Nights


Nightscape Highly Commended:
Umesh Gogna for his Celestial Symphony


Nightscape Shortlisted:
Kartik Kota for his Milky Way and Lightning Sprites

Nightscape Shortlisted:
Himanshu Kasale for his Milkyway Arc rising behind Sahyadri Mountain

Nightscape Shortlisted:
Sneha Chatterjee for her Milky Way in Merak

Nightscape Shortlisted:
Ruben for his Chasing Stars

Nightscape Shortlisted:
Naveen Chellaiah for his Cosmic Butterfly

Solar System Winner:
Sona Shahani Shukla for her image Eclipse on Jupiter


Solar System Runner-Up:
Nihal S Amin for his image Coronal Streamers


Solar System Highly Commended:
Aditya Kinjawadekar for his image Dusty Mars


Solar System Shortlisted:
Kunal Kishor Vaze for his Mineral Moon

Solar System Shortlisted:
Prakash Subbanna for his Sun in H-Alpha

Solar System Shortlisted:
Prabhakaran for his Crater Plato and its surroundings

Solar System Shortlisted:
Shivam Bansal for his Moon Crossing

Solar System Shortlisted:
Sandeep Mathur for his The Omen

Deep Sky Winner:
Devesh Pande for his CTB1 – The Garlic Pop Nebula


Deep Sky Runner-Up:
Pravas Deria for his Eagle Nebula


Deep Sky Highly Commended:
Anil Kumar MN for his M45 – The Pleiades


Deep Sky Shortlisted:
Abhinav Maroti Vitekar for his Veil Nebula

Deep Sky Shortlisted:
Harshwardhan Pathak for his NGC 7000, North America Nebula Widefield

Deep Sky Shortlisted:
Shikhar Gupta for his M81-82 widefield with surrounding IFN

Deep Sky Shortlisted:
Prabhakaran for his Leo Triplet

Deep Sky Shortlisted:
Aditya Kinjawadekar for his Horse with a Fly

Best Mobile Astrophotographer Winner:
Aditya Kinjawadekar for his Milkyway and the mighty Rajgad Fort


Best Mobile Astrophotographer Shortlisted:
Karthik P for his Selfie with Milky Way

Best Mobile Astrophotographer Shortlisted:
Subham Rath for his Under the Celestial Canopy: Forest Roads by Starlight

Best Women Astrophotographer Winner:
Vidya Vasudevan for her Milky Way and the Mighty Mountain


Best Women Astrophotographer Shortlisted:
Vidya Vasudevan for her Milky Way and Venus at Golden Hour

Best Women Astrophotographer Shortlisted:
Sona Shahani Shukla for her Pelican Nebula

Category: Nightscape
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Winner | Soumya Banerjee | Stat Tso |
Rinner-Up | Thiruchitrambalam M | Starry Hanle Nights |
Highly Commended | Umesh Gogna | Celestial Symphony |
Shortlisted | Kartik Kota | Milky Way and Lightning Sprites |
Shortlisted | Himanshu Kasale | Milkyway Arc rising behind Sahyadri Mountain |
Shortlisted | Sneha Chatterjee | Milky Way in Merak |
Shortlisted | Ruben | Chasing Stars |
Shortlisted | Naveen Chellaiah | Cosmic Butterfly |
Category: Solar System
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Winner | Sona Shahani Shukla | Eclipse on Jupiter |
Runner-Up | Nihal S Amin | Coronal Streamers |
Highly Commended | Aditya Kinjawadekar | Dusty Mars |
Shortlisted | Kunal Kishor Vaze | Mineral Moon |
Shortlisted | Prakash Subbanna | Sun in H-Alpha |
Shortlisted | Prabhakaran | Crater Plato and its surroundings |
Shortlisted | Shivam Bansal | Moon Crossing |
Shortlisted | Sandeep Mathur | The Omen |
Category: Deep Sky
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Winner | Devesh Pande | CTB1 – The Garlic Pop Nebula |
Runner-Up | Pravas Deria | Eagle Nebula |
Highly Commended | Anil Kumar MN | M45 – The Pleiades |
Shortlisted | Abhinav Maroti Vitekar | Veil Nebula |
Shortlisted | Harshwardhan Pathak | NGC 7000, North America Nebula Widefield |
Shortlisted | Shikhar Gupta | M81-82 widefield with surrounding IFN |
Shortlisted | Prabhakaran | Leo Triplet |
Shortlisted | Aditya Kinjawadekar | Horse with a Fly |
Category: Best Mobile Astrophotographer
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Winner | Aditya Kinjawadekar | Milkyway and the mighty Rajgad Fort |
Shortlisted | Karthik P | Selfie with Milky Way |
Shortlisted | Subham Rath | Under the Celestial Canopy: Forest Roads by Starlight |
Category: Best Women Astrophotographer
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Winner | Vidya Vasudevan | Milky Way and the Mighty Mountain |
Shortlisted | Vidya Vasudevan | Milky Way and Venus at Golden Hour |
Shortlisted | Sona Shahani Shukla | Pelican Nebula |
Celestial Images Shine in National Astrophotography Competition
A Competition aiming to promote astrophotography in India has borne out some incredible images.



“Aperture” Indian Astrophotographer of the Year 2023: A Short Story
Last year, in 2022, when we Astronomads Bangla got an opportunity to hold an exhibition at M. P. Birla Planetarium, we were overwhelmed. At the same time, a thought came to us, “why not share this opportunity with our astrophotography community!” After a series of discussions among us and with other stakeholders, we decided to organize a competition. We are thankful to a lot of people, including the judges, sponsors, associates who supported the idea.
In 2023, we wanted to make things a bit bigger. Planning for the 2023 edition began in January and things started to look brighter. We have been lucky enough to have a number of people with us, without whom it was simply not possible to organize this event. And a huge thanks to Team Astronomy Photographer of the Year Royal Museums Greenwich who have not only supported us but also helped with many ideas.
Thanks to our sponsors and media partners for the 2023 edition:
Aperture Telescopes Astronomy by Night Vorion Scientific Move Shoot Move Rotator Optolong Filter USA Amateur Astrophotography Ezine Astronomy Magazine
And to our sponsors of 2022 Edition:
Ajay Talwar Alyn Wallace Vikas Chander Vorion Scientific Amateur Astrophotography Magazine
And of course to our associate:
M. P. Birla Planetarium
And all of this was made possible with the contribution from our Indian Astrophotography community, who made this contest what it is.
Our main aim of organizing this contest has been to promote the community members and their images and provide them with an international platform. We are glad to see that the news of the contest results is being published in a number of prestigious platforms.
https://www.astronomy.com/…/see-the-winning-images-of…/
https://petapixel.com/…/celestial-images-shine-in…/
https://stories.app.goo.gl/QKvL
And a few other places too.
https://121clicks.com/…/indian-astrophotographer-of-the…
https://designyoutrust.com/…/spectacular-winning…/
https://ts2.shop/…/see-the-winning-images-of-the-indian…
https://aperturetelescopes.com/iapy-2023-results-and…/
And a few more coming up!
You can check the result announcement video, list of winning and shortlisted images and the 2023 Yearbook here:
https://astronomadsbangla.com/…/iapy-2023-results-and…/
We promise to return with the 2024 edition. Clear skies!
Umesh Gogna Thiru M Himanshu Kasale Sneha Chatterjee Nihal S Amin Aditya Kinjawadekar Kunal’s Astrophotography Vidya Vasudevan