Regarding the monthly contest...

[RBA]

... You may want to set a "not older than..." limit to avoid someone posting an image that was produced in May 2008 to the June 2011 contest, for example. If I was to make the decision on this I'd set a "seasonal" limit, something like the past 3-4 months or so, but if you'd rather not to impose a limit, I suppose that's fine too... Just a thought...

BTW I was surprised to see the contest idea... It's interesting to say the least!

[Juan Conejero]

We do have discussed this point, in fact. We finally decided not to set any limits regarding acquisition dates, but let's see what the people have to say about this topic. If there is a consensus on setting a date limit, then we may change the contest rules for the next month.

... It's interesting to say the least!

That's the intent

[Alejandro Tombolini]

IMO no limits is better. I have pictures with more than one year without processing. 

Saludos.
Alejandro.

[Harry page]

Hi

I hope when people vote for a image they take all things into consideration , scope , camera , skill , experience , etc 

I do not always want the best image to win  perhaps sometimes though 


Harry

[RBA]

I do not always want the best image to win

I love that sentence, especially when taken out of context 

[yock1960]

Hi

I hope when people vote for a image they take all things into consideration , scope , camera , skill , experience , etc 

I do not always want the best image to win  perhaps sometimes though 


Harry

Maybe we should have a handicapping system....you know...maybe points off for each APOD you've had and stuff like that!   
Seriously though, this is somewhat of a problem over on CN and I really don't know how one would solve it. While members of this forum may be a bit more...oh, I don't know...urbane...it's a difficult subject and it's hard to please everyone.

Steve

[vetenskapsman]

I hope when people vote for a image they take all things into consideration , scope , camera , skill , experience , etc

Agreed!  And by that criteria if I submit I should be a shoo-in ...     

I'd add one more criteria to the list ... I'll certainly be keeping a keen eye out for detail on the processing steps described.  Admit I didn't care for the contest idea at first but if I can actually learn something from the submissions then I'm all for it.  A contest is a brilliant way to "encourage" submitters to teach and educate the rest of us!

-carl(os)

[Nocturnal]

The contest shouldn't be an arms race to see who has the darkest skies and the biggest scope and the best camera. It should be about who pulls the best data out of the raw image. Of course there's also lots of skill involved with collecting data so you can't fully discount the initial image quality.