AstroCiutat International Astronomy Photography Contest

Worth clearing up before anything else, because the title misleads: this is not an exhibition you go and look at. It is an open call for entries. What you do is submit a photograph, and the listing gives the window as running to 12 September 2026.

What the call asks for

It is run by the City of Arts and Sciences, and this edition is devoted entirely to solar eclipses, in two categories: the solar eclipse of 12 August 2026, and other solar eclipses. Entrants must be over 18, with one image per category, submitted online. Winning photographs are exhibited for at least six months inside the complex. The full rules — accepted formats, usage rights, prizes, the exact closing date — are on the official page, and they are what you should read before sending anything.

If you are going to shoot an eclipse

The rule nobody gets to skip: never look at or photograph the sun without a certified solar filter in front of the lens, even when it is low in the sky. A standard neutral density filter is not enough, and a camera sensor is ruined in seconds. Everything else is logistics — a solid tripod, a remote release or timer, and framing and focus decided long in advance, because the interesting phases are short.

Where it is based, and what to see there

The organiser sits on Avinguda del Professor López Piñero, the complex that also holds the Science Museum, the Hemisfèric planetarium and the Umbracle. If the subject interests you more than the competition does, we have gathered what is known about the 12 August 2026 eclipse and about solar eclipses seen from València.