So, all those gorgeous pictures you see taken from Hubble and various other telescopes absolutely NEVER look like that initially. Professionals who know how to account for different telescope parameters and can determine the appropriate colors due to the temperature and gas qualities are the ones who transform the initially dull, black and white photos into something spectacular. Well, the European Southern Observatory decided to establish a contest to see who could paint the best astro pic. Except, this time, it wasn’t professionals, but amateur astronomers who composed the beautiful collection of astrophotos shown here. The winner of the competition is mentioned in this article, which explains a little more about the competition and what its winner/winners receive for their hard work.
Very interesting, thanks for the link.