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This is the kind of discovery that I love to see on HN. Regardless of who wins the competition, we all win by getting to see all of the entries. Absolutely gor

This is the kind of discovery that I love to see on HN. Regardless of who wins the competition, we all win by getting to see all of the entries. Absolutely gorgeous shots. Made my day.

creativenolo 1y ago
It’s also lovely to see the exhibition IRL when it comes, if you’re lucky enough. When I saw it, there were narratives about the people behind the shots which made it extra special.
sal_welissen 1y ago
> Absolutely gorgeous shots Yes, but these days I have to wonder whether AI was involved, and I hate having that thought because of the massive time, expertise, equipment, and luck that it takes for the real photos to be created.
- Nvorzula 1y ago
  Hello, astrophotographer here. The unique thing about astrophotography is that the subject that we are imaging is (relatively speaking) static. Any slight deviation, even the smallest detail, that is not structurally accurate is PAINFULLY obvious. As an aside, we do use traditional neural networks for certain processing steps. Deconvolution and noise reduction are very common. However, these are only helping in correcting errors caused by viewing conditions. They are not the "imaginative" AI that you are dreading.
  - hodgehog11 1y ago
    I had a feeling something like this was true, thank you for confirming it! I would actually be more worried about a knowledgeable human engaging in clever Photoshop alterations, or pasting different images together. Is this an issue in astrophotography? Are there ways to easily detect this?
- alexchamberlain 1y ago
  There is a category called "Annie Maunder Open Category", which allows for creative use of generative AI, as long as it is declared, otherwise it is banned. You have to take that slightly with a pinch of salt though, as many of the images don't represent what could be seen with the naked eye. It could be as simple as a wide spectrum sensor (which I don't think anyone could claim is AI) through to alignment of many 100s of images (for which the algorithms in use may have been considered AI a decade or 2 ago).

This is the kind of discovery that I love to see on HN. Regardless of who wins the competition, we all win by getting to see all of the entries. Absolutely gorgeous shots. Made my day.

creativenolo 1y ago

It’s also lovely to see the exhibition IRL when it comes, if you’re lucky enough. When I saw it, there were narratives about the people behind the shots which made it extra special.

sal_welissen 1y ago

> Absolutely gorgeous shots Yes, but these days I have to wonder whether AI was involved, and I hate having that thought because of the massive time, expertise, equipment, and luck that it takes for the real photos to be created.

Nvorzula 1y ago
Hello, astrophotographer here. The unique thing about astrophotography is that the subject that we are imaging is (relatively speaking) static. Any slight deviation, even the smallest detail, that is not structurally accurate is PAINFULLY obvious. As an aside, we do use traditional neural networks for certain processing steps. Deconvolution and noise reduction are very common. However, these are only helping in correcting errors caused by viewing conditions. They are not the "imaginative" AI that you are dreading.
- hodgehog11 1y ago
  I had a feeling something like this was true, thank you for confirming it! I would actually be more worried about a knowledgeable human engaging in clever Photoshop alterations, or pasting different images together. Is this an issue in astrophotography? Are there ways to easily detect this?
alexchamberlain 1y ago
There is a category called "Annie Maunder Open Category", which allows for creative use of generative AI, as long as it is declared, otherwise it is banned. You have to take that slightly with a pinch of salt though, as many of the images don't represent what could be seen with the naked eye. It could be as simple as a wide spectrum sensor (which I don't think anyone could claim is AI) through to alignment of many 100s of images (for which the algorithms in use may have been considered AI a decade or 2 ago).