This Year's AstroFest Winners Will Leave You FLOORED

We often forget how wondrous our planet and the surrounding skies really are, but the winning astrophotographs of the 2016 CWAS David Malin Awards are a stunning reminder. As part of the Central West Astronomical Society's (CWAS) annual AstroFest, a photo competition invited amateur photographers and astronomers around Australia to feature the most incredible night images we've ever seen. In eight categories, including deep sky and solar systems, photos that captured astronomy and the sky most beautifully were awarded.

Take a look at the winners ahead.

Deep Sky Category Winner — "Trumpler 14"
Peter Ward and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Deep Sky Category Winner — "Trumpler 14"

"This amazingly detailed image is of the southern sky's most interesting nebula around its most dynamic and unstable star, Eta Carina. The whole frame reveals excellent colour balance, beautifully controlled dynamic range and admirable fine structure, visible thoughout. Beautiful!"

Wide-Field Category Winner — "Smilin' Orion"
Troy Casswell and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Wide-Field Category Winner — "Smilin' Orion"

"This is a very challenging field to photograph, given its enormous extent and very wide dynamic range, with the very bright Orion nebula and the delicately structured faint arc of Barnard's Loop. These issues are beautifully handled here and the image is aesthetically well balanced and presented. A worthy winner."

Nightscapes Category Winner — "Stormy Stars"
Stephen Humpleby and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Nightscapes Category Winner — "Stormy Stars"

"This dramatic image has evidently composed itself, beneath a night sky scattered with pin-point stars, and it emphasises the fleeting and unexpected colours and dramatic clouds of a passing thunderstorm. A remarkably beautiful night-time landscape."

Solar System Category Winner — "The Hidden Colours of the Moon"
Craig Semple and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Solar System Category Winner — "The Hidden Colours of the Moon"

"The Moon's dark surface has subtle colour variations that give its reflected light its slightly yellowish hue. In this excellent image these colours are deliberately exaggerated, revealing the varying composition of our satellite's surface."

Theme ("Light Pollution: The Bad and the Beautiful") Category Winner — "The Milky Way over Bonnie Doon"
Neil Creek and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Theme ("Light Pollution: The Bad and the Beautiful") Category Winner — "The Milky Way over Bonnie Doon"

"A very well structured image that includes the distinctive band of the distant Milky Way above the yellow glow of Melbourne, about 100 km away on the horizon. It combines the bad and the beautiful in a way that catches the eye and obliges the thoughtful observer to consider the scene, which was the intention of this category."

Wide-Field Honorable Mention — "Close Comet, Planets and the Milky Way"
Alex Cherney and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Wide-Field Honorable Mention — "Close Comet, Planets and the Milky Way"

Wide-Field Honorable Mention — "Rival to Mars"
Phil Hart and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Wide-Field Honorable Mention — "Rival to Mars"

Theme ("Light Pollution: The Bad and the Beautiful") Honorable Mention — "Oberon Mill Illumination"
Andrew Davis and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Theme ("Light Pollution: The Bad and the Beautiful") Honorable Mention — "Oberon Mill Illumination"

Theme ("Light Pollution: The Bad and the Beautiful") Honorable Mention — "Guiding Lights"
Kristen McEwan and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Theme ("Light Pollution: The Bad and the Beautiful") Honorable Mention — "Guiding Lights"

Theme ("Light Pollution: The Bad and the Beautiful") Honorable Mention — "Vanuatu Milky Way"
Greg Bradley and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Theme ("Light Pollution: The Bad and the Beautiful") Honorable Mention — "Vanuatu Milky Way"

Theme ("Light Pollution: The Bad and the Beautiful") Honorable Mention — "Church of the Good Shepherd under the Milky Way"
Peter Hilkmann and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Theme ("Light Pollution: The Bad and the Beautiful") Honorable Mention — "Church of the Good Shepherd under the Milky Way"

Nightscapes Honorable Mention — "Fleeting Light"
Arwen Dyer and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Nightscapes Honorable Mention — "Fleeting Light"

Nightscapes Honorable Mention — "Conjunction Cross"
Svantje Mertens and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Nightscapes Honorable Mention — "Conjunction Cross"

Nightscapes Honorable Mention — "Arctic Nights"
Judith Conning and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Nightscapes Honorable Mention — "Arctic Nights"

Deep Sky Honorable Mention — "M7 OPen Cluster in a Sea of Stars"
Bill Christie and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Deep Sky Honorable Mention — "M7 OPen Cluster in a Sea of Stars"

Deep Sky Honorable Mention — "Star Factory"
Paul Haese and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Deep Sky Honorable Mention — "Star Factory"

Deep Sky Honorable Mention — "Star City"
Peter Ward and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Deep Sky Honorable Mention — "Star City"

Solar System Honorable Mention and Photo Editor's Pick — "Jet Stream"
Peter Ward and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Solar System Honorable Mention and Photo Editor's Pick — "Jet Stream"

Solar System Honorable Mention — "Saturn 2016"
Stefan Buda and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Solar System Honorable Mention — "Saturn 2016"

Solar System Honorable Mention — "Lunar Limb Flyover"
Edward Dobosz and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Solar System Honorable Mention — "Lunar Limb Flyover"

Junior Honorable Mention — "The Tarantula Nebula"
Scott Carnie-Bronca and 2016 CWAS “David Malin Awards”

Junior Honorable Mention — "The Tarantula Nebula"