Sun-Earth Days 2013

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Goddard Space Flight Center

Sun-Earth Days 2013

Anime Contest

Submission period: 2/18/2013 - 3/20/203

NASA's Sun-Earth Days program wants to see your best Anime artwork! Tag your artwork with #SolarMaxAnime to enter the Sun-Earth Days 'SolarMAX ANIME' Contest, and you could be featured on the NASA Sun-Earth Day website and upcoming webcast on March 22, 2013!

SolarMAX anime figure

SolarMAX!

"Hi! I'm SolarMAX, the official mascot for SUN-EARTH DAYS! Born on the Sun, I have the ability to control magnetic fields and provide additional light when flying through the darkness of space. My main job is to keep a close eye on space weather! Did you know that abrupt changes on the Sun can create flares and coronal mass ejections that blast brief but powerful 'solar storms' into space. These storms can cause surges and errors in power lines and electrical transformers, burning up power systems and causing blackouts. They can also create disturbances that cause distorted radio and satellite signals. This can create navigational problems for planes, and ships!"

"I'm searching for other superheros who are willing to join forces with me in a quest to protect mankind from the powerful effects of space weather! "

Contest Description:

SolarMAX is the official superhero mascot for Sun-Earth Days! Keeping an eye on space weather is quite a large job for one super hero so he needs your help. Your job is to create and submit a new and original anime style character with a visible space weather related super power. Our job is to help SolarMAX by selecting the top 5 submissions to be added to the Sun-Earth Days Superhero team!

Live Webcast Information:

Date: March 22, 2013
Time: 1:00 - 2:30 PM EST
Location: Wallops Flight Facility
URL: http://www.ustream.tv/nasaedge

The first winning selections will appear on the LIVE Sun-Earth Days webcast on March 22, 2013. Your character will also appear as part of a new Sun-Earth Days desktop wallpaper! See the contest directions below to get started! Good luck!

The submission period is from 2/18/13 - 3/20/13. Winning photos will be selected by a group of NASA scientists and outreach personnel.

How to Enter:

  • Create your anime superhero.
  • Scan or take a pic of your character.
  • Upload your pic to Instagram (http://instagram.com/nasagoddard) or to our Flickr Group, "NASA's SolarMAX Anime Contest". (http://www.flickr.com/groups/solarmaxanimecontest)
    • Tag your photos with #SolarMaxAnime to enter the Sun-Earth Days 'SolarMAX Anime Contest'.
  • Images should be in JPEG (.jpg) format in as high a resolution as possible.
  • Please provide as much metadata with the image as you are comfortable providing:
    • Your name
    • The name of your character with a 1-2 sentence description of your character's super hero power(s). (Your super power(s) must be related to some aspect of space weather (i.e. solar flares, solar storms, magnetism, magnetic fields, sunspots, solar wind, the solar cycle, aurora, etc.)
    • Your affiliation (e.g. school, community group, etc...).
    • Any other interesting details about your artwork.

Official Rules

  • All photos must be your original property.
  • No inappropriate content.
  • Your photos must comply with the Flickr Terms of service (http://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/utos-173.html)
  • All entrants must be 13 years old or older.
  • If your photo is selected as a winner you will be required to email us a high resolution non-watermarked version of the photo, and sign and submit a NASA image release form to provide us with the rights to republish your photo. This includes granting NASA a royalty-free, irrevocable right to reproduce, publish, distribute, perform, display, modify, create derivative works of the submission, or otherwise use the work for Federal purposes, and authorize others to do so.
  • By submitting an entry to this contest you are agreeing to the terms and conditions outlined in this document, and breaking any of these terms and conditions will result in immediate disqualification from the contest.

A black and white version of SolarMax is also available that you can color and display on your wall!

NASA Fact

The most powerful solar flare in the last 500 years occurred on September 2, 1859 and was sighted by two astronomers who happened to be looking at the sun at exactly the right time!