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Competition seasons
Every event publishes dates, frozen rules, evidence requirements, award eligibility, and the public judging rubric before entries open.
Competition dates and complete rules will appear here when the next event is scheduled.
Public scoring standard
Judges score the image itself out of 100. Equipment, experience, integration time, location, weather, and membership tier never multiply or otherwise alter the score.
| Criterion | Points | What judges assess | Score anchors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technical execution | 30 | Focus, tracking, calibration, star shape, registration, and visible capture or processing artifacts. | 27–30 exceptional · 21–26 strong · 13–20 developing · 0–12 major technical problems |
| Processing quality | 25 | Noise control, gradients, color balance, transitions, restraint, and artifact handling. | 23–25 exceptional · 18–22 strong · 11–17 developing · 0–10 major processing problems |
| Composition and framing | 20 | Framing, balance, orientation, scale, negative space, and visual structure. | 18–20 exceptional · 14–17 strong · 9–13 developing · 0–8 weak or distracting |
| Signal recovery | 15 | Meaningful detail, tonal range, and faint structure that are supported by the captured data. | 14–15 exceptional · 11–13 strong · 7–10 developing · 0–6 limited or unsupported |
| Artistic interpretation | 10 | A coherent, intentional treatment that supports the subject without overriding data integrity. | 9–10 exceptional · 7–8 strong · 4–6 developing · 0–3 incoherent or distracting |
| Total | 100 | Whole-number scores only; every criterion is required. | |
Ties are broken deterministically by the higher average in this order: technical execution, processing quality, composition, signal recovery, artistic interpretation, then earlier entry submission. Judges see blind entry evidence only after declaring no conflict.