Matador Network's Blog, page 783

Airbnb Online Experiences

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, Airbnb is partnering with Eva Longoria to host a range of online experiences. From September 15 to October 15, Airbnb is highlighting Hispanic and Latinx traditions that include a class on pre-Hispanic cultures and traditions, a Mezcal experience, a Capoeira dance and martial arts class, and a cigar-smoking workshop. It all culminates in a cooking class hosted by Eva Longoria.

Experiences range from $6 to $100 each, and Eva Longoria’s TexMex cooking class will take place on September 29 at 1:00 PM PDT. All the proceeds from her experience will go toward the Eva Longoria Foundation to enhance educational and entrepreneurial opportunities for Latinas and their families.

“There’s no better time to come together and celebrate the vibrant traditions, diversity, and richness of our heritage,” said Longoria. “There’s a deep-rooted connection between our culture and food, and I’m delighted to invite you into my kitchen and share some of my most cherished memories as we cook one of my favorite TexMex dishes that remind me of home.”

These are some of the National Hispanic Heritage Month experiences you should keep your eye on.

Traditions of Mexico’s Day of the Dead: Learn all about pre-Hispanic cultures, and learn to make sugar skulls and “papel picado.”
Cigar Tasting from Miami’s Little Havana: Learn about the mysteries and etiquette surrounding cigar smoking, and how to pair it with rum and coffee.
World’s Top Coffee Masterclass: Led by a Mexican national Coffee Judge, you’ll learn how to make a truly great cup of coffee.
Puerto Rican Salsa Dance Party: Learn to dance the Salsa de Calle from local Puerto Rican experts.
All About Mezcal with an Oaxaca Sommelier: Take a deep dive into this classic Mexican drink. The class is led by a knowledgeable sommelier.
Cook the Best Ceviche with Chef Melissa: Learn all about the classic Peruvian dish of ceviche and how to prepare it like a professional chef.
Gin & Gender: Learn about the background of gin, how alcohol is historically tied to gender, and how we can work together to change stereotypes. And, of course, make some cocktails yourself.
Conditioning with Capoeira: Put on your sneakers and practice a blend of dance and martial arts called jogo de capoeira. This is a moderate to intense workout.

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First lift-free ski resort Colorado

After a successful test run drew more than 1,000 skiers and snowboarders over 14 days in February and March, Colorado’s first new ski resort in 15 years is expanding for a full season in 2020-21. There’s just one thing awry — the resort has no lifts.

Bluebird Backcountry, located outside the town of Kremmling, Colorado, will expand to cover 1,200 acres of accessible terrain on Bear Mountain, about 2.5 hours northwest of Denver. Before heading downhill, skiers and riders must first hike up the mountain by attaching skins to their skis or boards, a process known in the ski world as “earning your turns.”

“Our new location at Bear Mountain not only receives 45 percent more snow annually, it’s also huge, allowing our guests to have an uncrowded, powder-filled backcountry adventure,” said Jeff Woodward, Bluebird Backcountry co-founder and CEO, in a press release.

Bluebird Backcountry exists to give paying guests a more controlled big-mountain skiing and snowboarding experience than hiking in the unpatrolled backcountry. The resort patrols its territory for avalanche risk, offers a day lodge and, new for this upcoming season, overnight camping at its base. The resort will also offer avalanche training courses this winter. An additional 3,000 acres of terrain will be available for those willing to hire one of the resort’s on-site guides.

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Photo: Courtesy of Bluebird Backcountry

“We expect backcountry use and demand for avalanche education to be at an all-time high this year,” said Vickie Hormuth, executive director of AIARE, in the release. “Recreationists of all abilities and backcountry experience levels will be looking for uncrowded places to play, making education more important than ever. Bluebird Backcountry is filling a much-needed gap to help resort skiers transition properly by learning both backcountry and avalanche essentials in a comfortable environment. Bluebird’s model is the future of in-bounds backcountry learning, and we are proud to partner with them to provide top-notch, forward-thinking avalanche education.”

Season passes for Bluebird Backcountry are available for $299 via the resort’s website. In November, day passes and guide reservations will go on sale for the season, running from December 24, 2020, to March 28, 2021.

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Most scenic airports in the world

People aren’t doing much traveling these days, but we can all remember the euphoric feeling of landing in a new destination after a long flight, our face glued to the window. That experience is made even better when the airport is located in a particularly scenic area. A new poll, conducted by private jet booking service PrivateFly, determined which airports are the world’s most scenic. It polled over 6,000 people who nominated airports they deemed the most picturesque for both takeoff and landing.

Thanks to its dramatic coastline, Donegal Airport in Ireland took the top spot on the list. One voter wrote, “Stunning varied scenery including mountains, sea, and beautiful beaches in the vicinity of the airport and beyond throughout the whole of county Donegal. Exceptionally friendly and welcoming people to greet you on arrival” while another called it “[…] the most wonderful scenery in the world…”

Runaway at Donegal Airport Photo: Donegal Airport/Facebook

Msembe Airstrip in Tanzania came in second place, while Skiathos Airport in Greece took third. Orlando, the island of Barra in Scotland, and Motu Mute Airport in Bora Bora also ranked highly.

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The Isle of Barra in Scotland has a beach airport

Adam Tidwell, CEO of PrivateFly, said, “Many of us have flown less frequently this year, but these ultimate destination landings are a welcome reminder of the uplifting power of travel and aviation — and a jaw-dropping inspiration for some memorable future flights.”

Skiathos Airport in Greece Photo: Chris Chetters/Shutterstock

The top 10 most scenic airport in the world according to PrivateFly rank as follow:

1. Donegal Airport — Ireland

2. Msembe Airstrip — Tanzania

3. Skiathos (Alexandros Papadiamantis) Airport — Greece

4. Orlando Melbourne International Airport — USA

5. Barra Airport — Scotland

6. Bora Bora (Motu Mute) Airport — French Polynesia

7. St Maarten (Princess Juliana) International Airport — St Maarten

8. Praslin Island Airport — Seychelles

9. Dubai International Airport — United Arab Emirates

10. Nadi International Airport — Fiji

More like thisAirports + FlyingThe 7 most unexpected attractions in airports around the world

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Is solo camping safe as a woman?

The first time I tried camping alone I was maybe nine years old. I’d pitched a tent in my front yard with the help of my mom, who I then made promise to let me brave the wilds of our lawn all by myself. I was a big kid, after all. Spending a night alone under the stars was proof of that.

I’ve since faced more daunting prospects than being woken up by the morning sprinklers as both a camper and a solo traveler. Until a recent road trip from California to Colorado, however, venturing into the actual wilderness on my own was not one of them.

It’s not that the childhood fantasy had put me off the reality of camping solo. Nor was it any sort of fear holding me back. The idea had simply not occurred to me again after that night.

For all the encouragement solo female travelers receive today, overnighting in the outdoors is generally not high up on the list of suggested trips. Before Cheryl Strayed became a household name, I’d heard few stories of female travelers tackling the wilderness on their own, let alone attempting a months-long backpacking challenge like the Pacific Crest Trail a la Wild.

In fairness, this is largely true for male travelers, as well. Camping alone goes against the first rule of so many outdoor adventures: buddy up.

Solo trips in the wilderness require a certain degree of planning for anyone. Campers should be familiar with wilderness preparedness, pack only what they can carry without skimping on the appropriate gear and emergency supplies, and let others know where they plan to be and when in the event something goes awry.

Female travelers may be inclined to take extra precautions, much as they might backpacking through a city rather than the woods, such as not advertising the fact that they’re alone. Though the likelihood of encountering problems with other campers is slimmer than the chances of facing a human threat in our own backyards, most women have seen enough horror movies to at least be skeptical of electing into a first-to-die scenario.

For those who come prepared, however, facing their own fears is among the greatest hurdles of a solo camping trip, whether it’s a fear of getting lost, being found, or simply growing lonely.

Admittedly, my recent adventure was not much more challenging than the one I’d organized some 20 years earlier. En route to Denver, I spent a night outside of Salt Lake City at a campsite I’d booked through Hipcamp, which allows campers to reserve a space on private property. This is an option for anyone seeking the comfort of knowing they’re not completely alone while also mitigating interaction with other campers. Others may feel more secure at a public campground with more foot traffic and facilities.

With more flexibility on the return trip, I opted to venture deeper into the Utah wilderness by spending the night in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Spanning roughly one million acres since the Trump administration slashed its size by nearly 50 percent in 2017, Grand Staircase-Escalante is the largest national monument in the United States overseen by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Unlike public lands managed by outfits like the National Park Service, BLM land is exempt from national regulations, and wild camping is generally allowed without a permit for up to two weeks.

In my case, pitching a tent in Escalante Canyon was as easy as, well, pitching the tent. Driving down the dusty, wide-open off roads, I passed several signs warning campers that there were no facilities to rely on. No permit, no amenities, no one else in sight: It was just me and my Subaru, using only the view I wanted to wake up to the next morning as my compass.

Car camping was a comfort in itself. My trunk was loaded with more gear than I’d realistically need for a summer night under the stars. Being in the desert, I did not need to bear-proof my campsite nor navigate terrain like thick forest cover on foot. Save the 100-degree daytime temperatures and single scorpion I saw, there was little to contend during my stay. Nonetheless, spending a night alone in the vast Utah wilderness felt as profound as the night sky itself.

Camping solo is unlike other solo travel: It’s about as solo as travel gets. This can be soothing or intimidating. In either case, exploring the great outdoors alone is an opportunity for travelers to spend quality time with themselves and their natural surroundings, test their abilities to overcome both mental and physical challenges, and learn more about themselves as travelers, whether for one night in Utah or half a year on the Pacific Crest Trail.

For some women, camping solo may also carry the weight of defying limitations, either those perpetrated by others or those we place on ourselves.

I’m no more of an expert on camping alone now than I was at nine years old. I do know a thing or two about solo travel, however. And the best advice I have for any woman considering a one-man camping trip in the great outdoors? Do it.

More like thisRoad TripsConsidering solo travel? Try road-tripping alone first.

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Camden Highline design competition

London wants your input to design its own version of New York City’s High Line — an elevated park and green walkway along an abandoned train line. The project’s developers are tapping creatives from around the world to help revitalize the old railway viaduct running between Camden Town and King’s Cross and turn it into a beautiful green space.

Oh yeah, and if your design is chosen, you could win a $12,900 prize.

The urban park will run just under one mile, about 26 feet above ground level, and allow people to walk between Camden and King’s Cross in just 10 minutes. Many of the current structures along the route have been abandoned for over 30 years, and now the project organizers are looking to breathe new life into them.

The competition for the Camden Highline is now LIVE!

Air Canada infinite domestic flights

It’s good to be a resident of Canada right now, and not only because you can actually travel to Europe while your neighbors to the south remain homebound. Air Canada is selling passes for unlimited domestic flights for a monthly flat fee. The Infinite Pass isn’t cheap, but if you’re a frequent traveler, it could certainly be worth it.

The Standard rate for the pass is $1,710 per month, followed by the Flex tier costing $2,137 and the Latitude tier at $4,275 (prices are in USD). The Latitude pass might sound steep, but it also comes with the option to upgrade to business class, which might make it worth the extra money.

All plans are available for one, two, or three months from the date of purchase. There are no blackout dates and all tiers allow you to change or cancel your flights at no charge up to an hour before departure and contribute points to your Altitude Qualifying Miles through Air Canada.

The pass is only available to Canadian residents who are Aeroplan members. To sign up for a pass, you’ll have to reserve a monthly plan before September 23, when the offer expires.

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Hawaii requiring COVID-19 test

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Those eager to make it to Hawaii this winter can breathe a sigh of relief. Governor David Ige announced yesterday that starting October 15, travelers from out of state won’t be required to quarantine as long as they present a negative test result for COVID-19, from a test taken within 72 hours of arrival.

Initially, Hawaii had planned a pre-travel testing program for August 1, but that was postponed as COVID-19 cases spiked in the US and Hawaii. Then a testing supply shortage caused further delays.

The test requested from travelers must be a nasal swab FDA-approved nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT), and the results must come from a CLIA certified laboratory.

In addition to the new lifting of quarantine rules, Ige also recently authorized a “resort bubble” program for the island of Kauai, enabling quarantined visitors to certain resort properties to leave their room and use the resort’s restaurant and pool facilities.

“We understand the need to address the economic hardship facing our tourism-based community, while also preserving the safety of our residents,” Kauai Mayor Derek S. K. Kawakami said in a statement. “The resort bubble program is an added tool to reopening our economy while we learn to co-exist with this virus. It’s not a replacement or the final solution, and we will continue to keep our community updated as we make progress.”

Since tourism to the state has declined more than 90 percent since the start of the pandemic, officials are hopeful that the new tourism rules will encourage travelers to visit.

More like thisWhere to Stay9 stunning yet affordable Airbnbs on Kauai, Hawaii

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Samuel L. Jackson teaches swears

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On Monday, Samuel L. Jackson promised to deliver a lesson to his Twitter followers. No, the actor isn’t launching an acting Masterclass. Instead, he offered to teach how to swear in 15 different languages. All his followers had to do to hear their favorite actor curse in Nepali and Basque was to pledge to vote in the upcoming election.

“Listen up,” says Jackon’s tweet. “If 2,500 of you click a voting action below to make sure you’re #GoodToVote, I will teach you to swear in 15 different languages. Go to headcount.org/samjackson now!”

Listen up – If 2500 of you click a voting action below to make sure you’re #GoodToVote, I will teach you to swear in 15 different languages. Go to https://t.co/nVk8WzUm8N now! pic.twitter.com/g4eUmHwuP9

— Samuel L. Jackson (@SamuelLJackson) September 14, 2020

Jackson is partnering with the non-profit HeadCount to increase voter registration before the election this November.

And Jackson wasn’t all talk. When 2,500 people pledged, Jackon dropped some knowledge on his audience.

In a follow-up video, he says, “You showed up and showed out for our voter action goals. Now, time for me to hold up my end of that bargain. Let’s do some cussing in 15 languages.” As promised, he proceeds to read 15 notecards with curses written in Basque, Vietnamese, Ukranian, Swahili, Nepali, Icelandic, Maori, Jamaican Patois, Haitian, Czech, Esperanto, Bemba, Catalan, Brazilian Portugese, and Thai.

You guys showed up and blasted through our Voter Action Goal for #GoodToVote! So as promised, here's some Cussin' 15 ways to go! Thanks for getting involved and make sure to #vote on Nov.3rd! #votemask @faircount @fairfight #MKsaysVote #yourvoicematters pic.twitter.com/6GkHudrm53

— Samuel L. Jackson (@SamuelLJackson) September 15, 2020

He did not, however, provide definitions for the words, so we’ll just have to leave that up to our imagination.

More like thisActivismAmericans, voting abroad is easier than you think

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Beautiful astronomy photos of 2020

The annual Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition, organized by the Royal Museums Greenwich, invites astrophotographers to submit their best photos of the wonders of the universe. Thousands of astrophotographers from around the world submitted their best pictures this year, and the winners of each category have just been announced.

From almost-unbelievable northern lights patterns to nebulas and solar eclipses, these are the winners, runner-ups, and highly commended images of this year’s contest in each category.

Galaxies

Winner in the category and overall winner: “Andromeda Galaxy at Arm’s Length?” by Nicolas Lefaudeux

Photo: Nicolas Lefaudeux + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

Have you ever dreamt of touching a galaxy? This version of the Andromeda Galaxy seems to be at arm’s length among clouds of stars. Unfortunately, this is just an illusion, as the galaxy is still two million light years away. In order to obtain the tilt-shift effect, the photographer 3D-printed a part to hold the camera at an angle at the focus of the telescope. The blur created by the defocus at the edges of the sensor gives this illusion of closeness to Andromeda.

Runner-up: “NGC 3628 with 300,000 Light Year Long Tail” by Mark Hanson

Photo: Mark Hanson + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

NGC 3628 is a popular galaxy target for both astrophotographers and visual observers with its distinctive dust lane. Studies by professional astronomers have shown that the evolution of some galaxies is the product of a series of minor merges with smaller dwarf galaxies. This image is an epic undertaking of five years of exposures taken with three different telescopes, although the majority of the exposure was in 2019. The goal of this ambitious mosaic is to show the tidal tail, measuring 300,000 light-years in length, with enough depth combined with a wide field of view to show it in its entirety.

Highly commended: “Attack on the Large Magellanic Cloud” by Juan-Carlos Munoz-Mateos

Photo: Juan-Carlos Munoz-Mateos + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

Despite what the title might imply, this image has nothing to do with space warfare. It shows four lasers of one of the telescopes at Paranal Observatory pointing towards a globular cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The lasers excite sodium atoms located in a layer about 80–90 kilometers above the ground. This creates four artificial “stars” that are then used to monitor and correct the atmospheric turbulence, delivering very sharp images. These artificial stars can be seen in this image at the very ends of the laser beams.

Aurorae

Winner: “The Green Lady” by Nicholas Roemmelt

Photo: Nicholas Roemmelt + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

The photographer had heard a lot of stories about the “lady in green.” Although he has had the chance to photograph the northern lights many times, he had never seen the “green lady” before. On a journey to Norway, she unexpectedly appeared with her magical green clothes making the whole sky burn with green, blue, and pink colors.

Runner up: “Lone Tree under a Scandinavian Aurora” by Tom Archer

Photo: Tom Archer + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

The photographer decided to explore on foot around the hotel on a very crisp -35°C [-31°F] evening in Finnish Lapland. When he found this tree, he decided to wait for the misty conditions to change and could not believe his luck when the sky cleared and the aurora came out in the perfect spot. The photographer spent about an hour photographing it before his camera started to lock up due to the conditions, but by then he was happy to call it a night.

Highly commended: “Iceland” by Kristina Makeeva

Photo: Kristina Makeev + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

Winters in Iceland require some training in terms of wind protection equipment. Iceland is a country with very strong winds, so a stable tripod is required to shoot the aurora. Many astrophotographers wait in a certain place for several hours to capture the Aurora Borealis. The photographer was lucky in this instance as she waited near Diamond Beach where the reflection of the aurora on the ice was beautiful.

Skyscapes

Winner: “Painting the Sky” by Thomas Kast

Photo: Thomas Kast + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

The photographer was searching for clear skies in Finnish Lapland to capture the beauty of a polar night and couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw what was waiting behind the clouds. Polar stratospheric clouds are something the photographer has been searching for many years and had seen only in photographs until that day. He took his camera onto a frozen river to get a good view and started to take photos. The clouds slowly changed their shape and colors. It was like watching someone painting, especially when the sun was lower — it started to get a darker orange and the pink shades became stronger.

Runner-up: “Desert Magic” by Stefan Leibermann

Photo: Stefan Leibermann + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

The photographer took this image during a trip through Jordan. He stayed for three days in the desert at Wadi Rum. During the night, the photographer tried to capture the amazing starry sky over the desert. He used a star tracker device to capture the sky. The photographer found this red dune as a foreground and captured the imposing Milky Way center in the sky.

Highly commended: “Voice of the Universe” by Weijian Chen

Photo: Weijian Chen + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

This is the aerial radar tower on the edge of the city of Taiyuan. Looking up from the middle of the mountain, it is more like a launch tower that communicates with extra-terrestrial civilizations. Between the mountains there is no sound. Facing the east, we can see the stars shining. It is here we seem to hear the voice of the Universe.

Our Moon

Winner: “Tycho Crater Region with Colours” by Alain Paillou

Photo: Alain Paillou + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

The Tycho crater is one of the most famous craters on the Moon. This huge impact has left very impressive scars on the Moon’s surface. With the colors of the soils, Tycho is even more impressive. This picture combines one session with a black-and-white camera, to capture the details and sharpness, and one session with a color camera, to capture the colors of the soils. These colors come mainly from metallic oxides in small balls of glass and can give useful information about the moon’s geology and history. The blue shows a high titanium oxide concentration and the red shows high iron oxide concentration. This picture reveals the incredible beauty and complexity of our natural satellite.

Runner-up: “HDR Partial Lunar Eclipse with Clouds” by Ethan Roberts

Photo: Ethan Roberts + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

During the 2019 partial lunar eclipse, the photographer managed to capture this fantastic image of the Moon while a small cloud passed in front of it. You can see the Earth’s shadow on the top right and its striking orange color caused by the sun’s light passing through the atmosphere. This is a high dynamic range image, meaning both the darker, shadowed region is correctly exposed as well as the much brighter parts of the moon. This processing technique also allows the clouds to be seen more clearly, giving the moon a similar appearance to that of a solar corona.

Highly commended: “Moon Base” by Daniel Koszela

Photo: Daniel Koszela + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

This photo shows the full moon over the highest peak of the Krkonoše Mountains, Śnieżka at 1602 meters. The single-frame image was taken in December 2019, shortly after sunset, two kilometers from the summit. The weather was perfect with few clouds and no wind. The building on the left is a meteorological observatory, and on the right you can see the chapel of St. Lawrence.

Our Sun

Winner: “Liquid Sunshine” by Alexandra Hart

Photo: Alexandra Hart + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

Solar minimum may be seen as a quiet Sun and deemed dull in white light, but if you look closely at the small-scale structure, the surface is alive with motion. This surface is about 100 kilometers thick and the ever-boiling motion of these convection cells circulate, lasting for around 15 to 20 minutes. They are around 1,000 kilometers in size and create a beautiful ‘crazy paving’ structure for us to enjoy.

Runner-up: “145 Seconds of Darkness” by Filip Ogorzeski

Photo: Filip Ogorzeski + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

This image was captured during the total solar eclipse seen on 2 July 2019. The photographer traveled 13,000 kilometers from Poland to Chile to see the total solar eclipse. His plan was to create the most minimalist picture of this breath-taking event and capture the brief moment when nature freezes; the birds fly to their nests and the temperature drops during 145 seconds of darkness.

Highly commended: “Ultraviolet” by Alan Friedman

Photo: Alan Friedman + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

Here is a portrait of the Sun captured through a specialized solar telescope that transmits light at the calcium K-line — a narrow slice of the spectrum in the near UV. This wavelength shows the details of the low chromosphere – a crackling texture, here undisturbed by active regions or sunspots. This tranquillity is the signature of solar minimum. In 2019 the Sun showed no sunspots on 281 days.

People & Space

Winner: “The Prison of Technology” by Rafael Schmall

Photo: Rafael Schmall + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

The star in the center of the image is the Albireo double star, surrounded by the trails of moving satellites. How many more might there be by the time we reach next year’s competition? There could be thousands of moving dots in the sky. In order to create astrophotos, photographers have to carefully plan where to place the telescope, and this will be more difficult in the future with more satellites in the way.

Runner-up: “Observe the Heart of the Galaxy” by Tian Li

Photo: Tian Li + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

This image depicts the photographer climbing the radio telescope and Mingantu solar radio telescope array. First the photographer tested and moved his camera so that the M8 and M20 nebulae would appear right next to the telescope. After taking the foreground image, he moved his camera a little bit but still pointing at the same location in the sky, and captured the background with an equatorial mount.

Highly commended: “AZURE Vapor Tracers” by Yang Sutie

Photo: Yang Sutie + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

At the top of fjords in Arctic Norway, the photographer was met with an unknown sky. Was it aliens? Was it the supernatural? He captured a series of photos to record the night and didn’t know until the next day that the colors were actually created by the ‘Auroral Zone Upwelling Rocket Experiment (AZURE)’ from Andøya Space Centre which dispersed gas tracers to probe winds in Earth’s upper atmosphere.

Planets, Comets, & Asteroids

Winner: “Space Between US” by Łukasz Sujka

Photo: Lukasz Sujka + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

This image shows the really close alignment of the moon and Jupiter that happened on 31 October 2019. In the full resolution picture, you’ll see that there are three of Jupiter’s moons also visible. This small project is a big challenge that involves a lot of luck and good seeing conditions. To capture this phenomenon in such a big scale was quite demanding in data acquisition as Jupiter and the moon traveled across the sky quite fast. It happened in altitude only 9 degrees above the horizon. I wanted to show the huge emptiness and the size of space, which is why there is a lot of ‘nothing’ between the two major parts of the image.

Runner-up: “The Outer Reaches” by Martin Lewis

Photo: Martin Lewis + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

On 3 December 2019, the cloud cleared around mid-evening to reveal exceptionally steady skies over the photographer’s home in the UK. Making the most of the conditions, he turned his telescope to the distant planet Uranus and started gathering video frames using an infrared filter to bring out cloud details on this otherwise visually bland planet. To get the best images, a photographer must average the best of many short exposures. For an object as faint as Uranus, this means the individual frames are very noisy. That night, even through these noisy preview frames, the lighter polar region could be easily seen — a most exceptional situation and a testament to the steady skies that night.

Highly commended: “The Ghost of Alnilam and a Near Earth Asteroid” by Robert Stephens

Photo: Robert Stephens + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

Sometimes, what appears to be a disaster in astronomical imaging actually becomes a nice composition. The photographer’s telescopes normally observe and study near-Earth asteroids. While following the asteroid (11405) 1999 CV3, he was surprised to see an extremely bright star. It was the 1.8 magnitude Alnilam, the middle star in the Belt of Orion. It cast internal reflections throughout the telescope, but fortunately they avoided the asteroid crossing the centre of the field of view. This near-Earth asteroid was approximately 78 million miles away at the time. Alnilam is about 2,000 light-years away, meaning the light we are seeing now left the star in biblical times. The light that left the asteroid was about eight minutes old.

Stars & Nebulae

Winner: “Cosmic Inferno” by Peter Ward

Photo: Peter Ward + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

NGC 3576 is a well-known nebula in southern skies but is shown here without any stars. Software reveals just the nebula, which has been mapped into a false color palette. The scene takes on the look of a celestial fire-maelstrom. The image is intended to reflect media images taken in Australia during 2019 and 2020, where massive bushfires caused the destruction of native forests and have claimed over 12 million acres of land. It shows nature can act on vast scales and serves as a stark warning that our planet needs nurturing.

Runner-up: “The Dolphin Jumping out of an Ocean of Gas” by Connor Matherne

Photo: Connor Matherne + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

This target is officially known as Sh2-308, but the photographer has always enjoyed calling it the Dolphin Nebula. It is a bubble of gas being shed by the bright blue star in the center of the image as it enters its pre-supernova phase. The red star to the right could possibly be influencing the shape too and might be responsible for the bill of the dolphin. While it won’t explode in our lifetimes, seeing the warning signs are quite neat. It never hurts to say that the warning signs are the most beautiful part of this particular target!

Highly commended: “The Misty Elephant’s Trunk” by Min Xie

Photo: Min Xie + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

The photographer imaged IC 1396, otherwise known as the Elephant’s Trunk, in the Hubble palette from my light-polluted backyard in Coppell, Texas. This image presents the Elephant’s Trunk surrounded by the emission clouds with a misty feeling and an emphasized blue doubly ionized oxygen area as the background. It really gives the feeling of the trunk emerging from the distance.

Young Competition

Winner: “The Four Planets and the Moon” by Alice Fock Hang

Photo: Alice Fock Hang + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

Photographing a planetary alignment requires rigor and patience but also a lot of luck. That evening, despite preparing everything for a week, the photographer encountered clouds. The magic started after sunset, where the moonset, Venus, Mercury, the star Antares, Jupiter and Saturn could be seen over the Indian Ocean. By looking at the sky map, The photographer could see that Pluto was there also above Saturn but invisible in my image. Note also the presence of Alpha Centuari on the left of the image as well as our immense galaxy, the Milky Way.

Runner-up: “Detached Prominences” by Thea Hutchinson

Photo: Thea Hutchinson + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

This is the Sun imaged from London in September 2019. This is a composite of two images, one exposed for the solar prominences and the other for the solar disc. The solar disc image was inverted, converted to false color and blended with the prominence in Photoshop as a dark layer. This was the first time the photographer used this technique.

Highly commended: “Light Bridge in the Sky” by Xiuquan Zhang

Photo: Xiuquan Zhang + Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

The photographer visited Iceland with his mother in 2019. The sky there is wonderful every night. The photographer had never seen such a scene before! The aurora is magical, as you can see in this photo.

More like thisOutdoorThe best places to see the northern lights in the continental United States

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Contest to redesign Taiwan passport

Passport covers aren’t always creative, but Taiwan’s New Power Party is trying to change that. The political party held a “We are Taiwan” Passport Cover Design Competition to rethink the country passport and the results are in.

The competition was a response to a recent resolution passed by the island’s parliament calling for a passport design that highlights Taiwan’s local character. Tawainese were encouraged to submit designs showcasing Taiwan’s unique characteristics, and a total of 127 entries were submitted.

Before the August 31 vote, entries were divided into two categories — The International Standards and Creative. Those submitting ideas for the International Standards category were a bit more constricted with their designs as they had to follow rules from the International Civil Aviation Organization, CNN reports.

The winning design under the first category features a green cover with an image of Taiwan’s shape, plum blossoms (the country’s official flower) and native animals like the Formosan black bear. The runner-up was a butterfly with wings in the shape of Taiwan. The second runner-up displays the shape of the island in colorful bubble-like patterns.

Photo: New Power Party

Entries in the Creative category were all over the map, many of which featured Taiwan’s iconic bubble tea beverage. The top three entries for this category also featured blossoms and endemic animals.

Photo: New Power Party

Currently, the Taiwanese passport bears the term “Republic of China” on its front cover, another name for Taiwan that some Taiwanese strongly reject.

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