How do we let the community know if one of our images is selected as APOD?

Maybe a link in your image description?

Personally, I value Astrobin IOTD much more than APOD. It is selected by amateurs and for amateurs so IMHO is much more of an honor as they know what they are looking at and what went into it. I have seen some APODs that make me wonder what they were thinking! I have had one of each, the APOD being way back in the late 90s so primitive by today's standards.

Bill McLaughlin:
Maybe a link in your image description?

Personally, I value Astrobin IOTD much more than APOD. It is selected by amateurs and for amateurs so IMHO is much more of an honor as they know what they are looking at and what went into it. I have seen some APODs that make me wonder what they were thinking! I have had one of each, the APOD being way back in the late 90s so primitive by today's standards.

As I have been working for APOD for over 4 years now, I am trying to clear up this misunderstanding. APOD is not an astrophotography competition (or a system that solely focuses on promoting beautiful images) --it never has been. APOD's mission is public outreach and science education. Sometimes there is a really interesting story behind an image that you want to tell. Sometimes a random person walks on the street and sees a quite rare phenomenon in the sky and pulls out their phone and take a picture. This has a value for APOD, but it wouldn't make IOTD on Astrobin. The story is what matters the most for APOD, not how the image was processed. Astrobin IOTD has specific rules that can get you eliminated, a specific audience, whereas APOD has to reach everyone, so not so strict about the image. The difference between the images you see is mainly because of this. 

Of course, there are times that APOD focuses on the astrophotography side. But that is also limited to the submissions. If say a Pleiades image will be posted, it is selected between the submissions during a certain period. Sometimes people are late to submit eclipse images and ask why a mediocre image was posted. It is simply because of what editors had when that APOD was prepared. APOD also will not eliminate images just because stars on the corners are elongated.

Both platforms have their own values and they are valuable in those ways.

Harry Karamitsos:
How do we let the community know if one of our images is selected as APOD?

easy. Start a thread here indicating your image was selected for APOD. You are also able to indicate as such in your image description. You could also ask Sal to consider easily navigating to those images by creating an APOD section under the same menu as Top Picks, IOTD etc, but not sure how much traction that would get given you can always go to the APOD site and inspect the selected images directly. APOD does not have an IOTD section as an example.

Kay Ogetay:
APOD's mission is public outreach and science education. Sometimes there is a really interesting story behind an image that you want to tell. Sometimes a random person walks on the street and sees a quite rare phenomenon in the sky and pulls out their phone and take a picture. This has a value for APOD, but it wouldn't make IOTD on Astrobin.

So here is one APOD that I still recall seeing that captures that Kay is trying to convey, at least for me. This would never have made an IOTD, nor would it even likely have been published on Astrobin.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220320.html

Arun H:

Kay Ogetay:
APOD's mission is public outreach and science education. Sometimes there is a really interesting story behind an image that you want to tell. Sometimes a random person walks on the street and sees a quite rare phenomenon in the sky and pulls out their phone and take a picture. This has a value for APOD, but it wouldn't make IOTD on Astrobin.

So here is one APOD that I still recall seeing that captures that Kay is trying to convey, at least for me. This would never have made an IOTD, nor would it even likely have been published on Astrobin.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220320.html

Yes, this is a good example Arun, thanks. Another aspect of this is that, the general audience loves these images. A great photo of a Wizard Nebula might do well in terms of public outreach, but if it doesn't reach the people that science hardly reaches, it isn't effective science communication. That's why there are sometimes ridiculously processed images selected as well, you'd be surprised to see how popular they get. I'm surprised too! I'm aware that those are not nice in terms of astrophotography, but we can't dictate what others will like. Sometimes it is quite hard to explain to a layman why this photo is better than the other --which would be obvious to anyone here! Do I like it, no. But is required. Otherwise, we become a more polarized community, which isn't good for anyone.

And for the same reason, I also try to address the concerns here, because the expectations of this community need to be heard. I made that a mission to myself at APOD, I constantly give feedback to editors to reflect the perspectives here. So it doesn't mean that APOD don't pay attention to these details, it's not just the main goal. When there are two images of the same subject, APOD picks the better-looking one. I've been in astrophoto community for maybe 15 years now. This is a wonderful community and I value every one of each, in their own way. It is good for everyone.

Some type of APOD tag to add to images would be nice on here.

Kay, when an image is submitted to APOD, where does the description that's used when it is selected come from? Is that generated by you guys at APOD or is that what the photographer submitted in their email with their photo? I've always wondered how much information to add to a submission email.

APOD has always been more inclusive and accessible, and I think has done a better outreach role.

IOTD images are ofc beautiful but are largely beyond the reach of normal astrophotographers, let alone normal laypeople.  Remote skies, tens of hours of imaging per target - just not realistic for the majority of amateurs.  (Also lest we carried away by how great IOTD is, IOTD itself has its limitations, eg: you generally see far more astonishing images of the sun, for example, on specialist solar forums than even the solar IOTDs selected here on astrobin).

Just to be a bit mischievous though, did you see who took that APOD example that Arun H shared above.  I suspect provenance may have had a slight influence on the selection there? ;)

The approach I take to all these different forums is "and" not "vs" or "better".  And to the OP if you had an image selected for APOD - congratulations, you should be v pleased with that!

Harry Karamitsos:
Yes, My image was selected. Regardless, it feels like a big honor, what ever the intentions...


https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Congrats! Is that writeup yours or did they write up that description for you?

@Harry Karamitsos Congratulations! I just want to suggest you using https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250214.htmlfor sharing your APOD image as https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html will always point at the latest APOD (unless you have found a way to earn an APOD every day )!

Harry Karamitsos:
How do we let the community know if one of our images is selected as APOD?

IN CAPS ?