The stars look so vibrant that you could just reach out, catch them and put them in your pocket. But you don’t even have to step outside to see them.

They’ve already been captured by the talented photographers whose entries have been shortlisted in the ‘wide-field’ category of this year’s David Malin Awards, Australia’s premier astrophotography competition.

Shortlisted images in the ‘wide-field’ category of the 2014 David Malin Awards. Click on the photos in the gallery above for larger versions.

And these are just a taste of the amazing images and videos that have been shortlisted this year. Other categories include: theme – “the Moon”, Solar System, deep sky, and animated sequences. Head on over to the awards website to take a look at all the images and videos on the 2014 David Malin Awards shortlist.

Judging is now complete and all the winners will be announced at a special ceremony on Saturday 19 July 2014.

The David Malin Awards are run by the Central West Astronomical Society and judged by renowned astrophotographer Dr David Malin. (The Central West of NSW is the region in which our Parkes radio telescope – ‘The Dish’ – is located.) They’re run as part of the Central West Astronomical Society’s annual AstroFest and are supported in 2014 by CSIRO, Canon Australia, Parkes Shire Council and Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum.

For more information on the awards see our previous post on the 2013 competition: ‘Phenomenal photos from the David Malin Awards’.

Enjoy!