Every year an original calendar featuring astronomical photographs taken by contributors from the public is published by Vixen – a company that produces a wide range of astronomical items from telescopes to posters and prints.
Once again, Vixen is calling for entrants to step forward, this time for a place as a photo contributor to the 2021 edition of the calendar.

The competition is open to everyone, with no discrimination on age, photography skill level nor equipment type. Selected images can be expected to be used as part of the “2021 Vixen Original Celestial Calendar” and may also feature on “celestial posters” as part of Vixen advertisements.

This year’s judging team will be joined by astronomical photographer and journalist, Hiroki Ohno.
Born in Fukushima City in 1948, Ohno is the director of the Star Village Observatory. Having authored a variety of books focusing on the stars and skies, Ohno’s expertise is expected to help authenticate images submitted to the contest.

"2021 Vixen Original Celestial Calendar" Application Guidelines

Accepted entries: Any type of astrophotography i.e, stars, starscape, moon, sun, planets, nebulae, clusters etc.
*Images used in previous or other competitions may be submitted as long as the entrant has copyright of the original image.
*The copyright of images will remain with the applicant, however, if the image if selected, then the applicant grants the right for Vixen to use it for advertisements and promotional products (i.e calendars, posters etc)

Eligible applicants: Open to anyone, of any age, with any level of photography knowledge (both professional and amateur photographers accepted)

Application rules: There is no limit on the number of entries submitted by each person, and it does not matter when the photograph was taken, however, please follow the following guidelines.

• Digital media – 210 x 297 mm wide, 350dpi or more
• Printed media – a high quality print, 210 x 297 mm wide

*When submitting a digital media file, please also send in a printed version.
Attach a filled in application form to the back of each submission when sending the entries in to Vixen.

To apply, entrants should fill in the “2021 Visen Celestial Calendar Application Form” (Japanese language only), attach it to the submission and send the documents to the following address:

Vixen Public Relations Division
Person in Charge of “Celestial Calendar”
5-17-3 Higashi Tokorozawa, Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture 359-0021

Submissions will only be accepted by mail, so unfortunately any entrant made my email will not be accepted.
To submit, applicants should make sure that their submission will arrive no later than Thursday 20 August 2020.

From the submissions, Vixen is hoping to select 12 - 15 photographs that will be used by the company for the calendar and for other astronomical products. Winners will receive 20,000 yen in prize money as well as the 2021 Celestial calendar featuring their photograph.
An announcement will be released on the official Vixen website on Friday 2 October 2020, detailing the successful winners of the 2021 celestial calendar photo competition.