Shooting for the stars

This shot of the Gabriela Mistral Nebula (NGC 3324), taken by James Glucksman, won the recent North Otago Photographic Society's annual nature competition.

Mr Glucksman used a telescope and a dedicated astronomical camera to take the photo.

He shot 84 images and stacked them with specialised software, after which he used software to bring out the colours of the nebula and tone down the stars for the final image.

The nebula was named after Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral, the first Spanish American author to receive the Nobel Prize for literature.