I was given a wonderful surprise today. I received what I first though was a spam email, only to find that I was a critics pick for a 2019 Austin Chronicle Best of Austin award for "Best Photographer to Keep You Starry-Eyed". My first reaction was to think of the other amazing astrophotographers in Austin that can make images that I don't even attempt and think that I don't deserve this. I next noticed that the award was in the politics media category with a lunar eclipse image. I can enjoy this award mostly guilt free.

Here is what the Chronicle had to say:

"Look into the night sky when you're way out in the country and there's no artificial light for miles: What you'll see will astound you. Now imagine you had a telescope and a good camera for capturing all that stellar glory. Even then, the images might not do justice to reality – unless you had the skills of Rob Pettengill. The local astrophotographer got his first telescope when he was 8 years old; now, he's among this year's NASA JPL Solar System Ambassadors and continues to use his professional experiences in computation, electronics, and imaging to bring the starry heavens a little closer to earth."

Thank you to all who visit this web site and read my posts on Flickr, FaceBook, Twitter, and Quora. Thank you to the critics at the Chronicle for the encouragement. I'll do my best to live up to this award.