Winners in the Astrophotography Contest, which was part of the Dark Sky Festival, were announced during a recent virtual festival.

The first place honor went to Nicole Zenhausern for her photo, “Ancient Light.” The photograph features a landscape with the Milky Way composed above an ancient life form, a Bristlecone Pine tree. The trees have lived to be as old as 4,850 years, framing the light of the ancient Milky Way, which took thousands of years to reach Earth.

Second prize winner went to Michael Maggio, whose picture, “Celestial Meeting,” was taken early in the morning on April 23, 1998. It captures the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter when the two planets were only half a degree apart in the sky. Maggio’s image was beautifully captured by taking the picture at just the right time in the brightening twilight.

The Astrophotography Contest was judged by two local professional astrophotographers, Beth Ruggiero and Ken Naiff.