Live astrophotography from the Brecon Beacons
One Show presenter Lucy Siegle talks to Will live from the Brecon Beacons. Credit: BBC
I had great fun on Wednesday night in the Brecon Beacons filming a series of live segments about astrophotography for the BBC’s The One Show. The idea behind the evening was that I would help a group of twenty amateur photographers take their first images of the night sky before judging which was the best shot. When we arrived at the filming location the sky was filled with clouds, but as the Sun set the clouds thankfully dissipated and the photographers managed to capture their pictures (even despite some quite substantial haze).
If you missed the programme, and are in the UK, you’ve got a few days left to catch it on the BBC’s iPlayer; the astrophotography bits can be found here, here and here. And if you’ve captured an astro image lately that you’re particularly pleased with, don’t forget to send it into the 2013 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition, which is now open for entries.
Marvelling at the mountains on the Moon
Over the last few nights we’ve had some clear skies and good seeing conditions here in the southwest of the UK. On Monday night I spent 3 hours capturing a 50 pane mosaic of the whole of the visible portion of the Moon while last night I decided to focus on the wonderfully rugged region around the lunar Alps and the crater Plato.
Both images are shown below – do click on them to see the full size versions, especially the whole-phase mosaic. They were captured with a Meade 8-inch LX200R Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and an Imaging Source DMK21AU618.AS CCD camera; the Plato/lunar Alps image is a mosaic of 17 panes made using an additional 2x Barlow lens.
50 pane mosaic of the Moon on 18 February 2013. Credit: Will Gater
Crater Plato and the lunar Alps on 19 February 2013. Credit: Will Gater
Jupiter and the Moon shine through steady skies
Here are a few pictures of the Moon and Jupiter that I captured on Friday night/Saturday morning under some great seeing conditions – in fact the best seeing conditions I’ve seen all year. All of the images were taken with an 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, an Imaging Source DMK21AU618.AS CCD camera and a 2x Barlow lens. To create the colour Jupiter image I also used a set of Astronomik RGB filters and a 3x Barlow lens (I used the 3x Barlow for the Atlas/Hercules shot too).
Jupiter and the Great Red Spot. Credit: Will Gater
The rille network within crater/walled plain Posidonius. Credit: Will Gater
The walled plain Janssen and the crater Fabricius (top). Credit: Will Gater
Long shadows on the floor of the walled plain Cleomedes. Credit: Will Gater
Crater Messier (left) and Dorsa Geikie (centre). Credit: Will Gater
Crater Gutenberg (upper left). Credit: Will Gater
Vallis Rheita and crater Rheita. Credit: Will Gater
Crater Copernicus lit from above. Credit: Will Gater
Craters Atlas (right) & Hercules (left). Credit: Will Gater
Sinus Concordiae & Rima Cauchy. Credit: Will Gater
Dartmoor’s delights make up for lacklustre Leonids
Jupiter with the Hyades & Pleiades (also shows NGC 1647 & NGC 1746). Credit: Will Gater
Last Saturday I headed up onto Dartmoor in the hope of seeing a few meteors from the Leonid meteor shower. Even though I had clear, dark skies on my side, the Leonids put on a rather feeble display this year; in a 3-hour observing session I only saw four, though I did see around twenty respectable sporadic meteors. After a good few hours of trying (and failing) to catch one of the blighters on camera I gave up and decided to have a go at imaging some other targets.
I couldn’t resist photographing the superb sight of Jupiter with the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters. The image above is a stack of six three-minute exposures taken at ISO 400. I used an unmodified Canon 550D DSLR and 90mm lens with an HEQ5 Pro mount (which was autoguided by a Sky-Watcher SynGuider attached to an 80mm refractor). The picture of the North America Nebula below was taken with the same setup, but it’s composed of about 30 minutes of exposures at IS0 400.
The North America Nebula (NGC 7000) & Pelican Nebula. Credit: Will Gater
Stargazing from the Gower
Rose and I admiring the summer Milky Way. Credit: Will Gater
With the awful weather we’ve had here in the UK this summer I’ve had hardly any astro images to share here on the blog. Thankfully, things seem to be improving* as we enter autumn. Here are a few shots I captured last weekend while camping in the Gower with my wife, Rose.
We camped at Three Cliffs Bay on the south coast. It’s a beautiful part of Wales with clear views out over the Bristol Channel to the south — perfect for observing, low altitude, summer objects like the Lagoon Nebula and the many interesting star clusters in and around Sagittarius and Ophiuchus. The skies were wonderfully dark looking out over the Bristol Channel to the southwest; sadly the same can’t be said for the view looking east, towards Swansea and Port Talbot, where substantial light pollution masked everything but the brightest stars.
Anyway, if you’d like to see some of the objects in these images yourself you’ve got a few weeks before they disappear into the twilight for a while — September’s Sky at Night Magazine has a great observing article on pages 32-37 to get you started.
* I may regret writing that.
The Scutum Star Cloud, within the Milky Way. Credit: Will Gater
The Eagle Nebula (M16), with the ‘Pillars of Creation’. Credit: Will Gater
The Lagoon and Trifid Nebulae among the Milky Way star fields. Credit: Will Gater
Observing the 2012 transit of Venus
The 2012 transit of Venus imaged at h-alpha wavelengths. Credit: Will Gater
A week ago I travelled to the Greek island of Kos to observe the 2012 transit of Venus – a rare celestial event where the planet Venus drifts in front of the Sun’s disc, as seen from Earth.
The hotel where I stayed was located on the north-eastern end of Kos, close to the village of Psalidi. I had chosen this site for two main reasons. The first was its shoreline location and clear view to the northeast out over the Aegean Sea.
Only the distant mountains of Turkey interrupted the horizon, but as they reached less than a degree above the horizon I knew they wouldn’t obscure much of the transit. Besides, when the Sun is that low down the distorting effects of the atmosphere are so great that getting a sharp view of the transit (when the Sun is barely a degree above the horizon) would be almost impossible.
Although the transit would be well underway by the time the Sun rose from Kos, the island’s position on the Earth meant that around 2 hours of the transit would still be left to observe. And the Sun would reach an altitude of about 20 degrees, from Kos, before Venus moved off the solar disc.
A view of the north-eastern horizon from my observing site near Psalidi.
The second reason I chose Kos as my transit observing location was that the eastern end of the Mediterranean had the best weather prospects in Europe for the time of the transit. I later found out that I wasn’t the only one with the eastern Med in mind as an observing site, as several other astronomers — including well-known German astronomer Daniel Fischer — travelled to Rhodes.
Moonrise over Kos two nights before the transit. Credit Will Gater
Imaging the transit with a static photo tripod, PST & DMK 21AU618.AS CCD camera
I was able to take two telescopes with me to Kos. The first was the de-mounted optical tube assembly from an ETX90EC with a Baader AstroSolar Safety Film solar filter. I have used this telescope on observing trips several times, including the 2006 total solar eclipse in Turkey, as its compact size is perfect for travelling. However this time because of hand luggage weight constraints I had to carefully pack it up and send it to Greece in my hold luggage.
Unfortunately a quick star test on the night of my arrival in Kos showed that it had slipped slightly (but noticeably) out of collimation — so my transit images from the ETX OTA are not as sharp as they could be. The second scope I took with me was a Coronado PST. I carried this as hand luggage along with a DMK 21AU618.AS CCD camera and the Baader solar filter.
A test image captured with a static photo tripod a few days before the transit.
Both telescopes were used, one at a time, with a heavy photographic tripod. Imaging the Sun with my Canon 550D DSLR and the ETX scope was a fairly easy affair — only single, short, exposures were needed. However the PST/DMK/static photo tripod setup presented a few imaging challenges. Namely, how to capture an AVI video through the DMK/PST without blurring the image or letting the Sun drift out of frame while the video was being captured.
There was no way I would be able to take a tracking mount with me to Greece; so in the months leading up to the transit I practiced hand guiding the alt-azimuth controls of the photographic tripod so that the Sun stayed in frame, in roughly the same location. It was difficult to say the least, but it did work and Registax was able to process the videos without any ‘ghost’ images. Above is a test — hand tracked — PST image captured two days before the transit.
Dawn breaks over Kos on the morning of the transit.
The morning of the transit was clear, with only a few thin haze clouds hugging the horizon. Yet as the dawn began to break a few clouds started to bubble up over the coast of Turkey. One cloud in particular (seen in the image below) had me worried, as it was threatening to move right in front of where the rising Sun was about to appear. Thankfully though these clouds moved away — and some of the haze appeared to dissipate — a few minutes before the first rays of sunlight appeared over the mountains.
The north-eastern horizon moments before sunrise.
My first view of the transit was, as expected, heavily distorted by various atmospheric undulations. It was actually quite surreal to see the silhouette of Venus, through the eyepiece, being smeared up and down — as if someone was stretching and compressing the whole solar disc. The series of images on the left (click the thumbnail to get a bigger version) shows this effect clearly; they were taken just as the Sun was appearing over the distant Turkish mountains.
As the Sun climbed higher in the sky the atmospheric distortion lessened and I was able to begin imaging the transit in earnest. Below are a few of the shots I was able to capture.
The 2012 transit of Venus imaged at h-alpha wavelengths. Credit: Will Gater
A full disc view taken with a 550D, ETX90EC & Baader solar filter. Credit: Will Gater
The 2012 transit of Venus imaged at h-alpha wavelengths. Credit: Will Gater
The 2012 transit of Venus imaged at h-alpha wavelengths. Credit: Will Gater
The development of the famous ‘black drop’ effect. Credit: Will Gater
Almost over! Venus edges off the solar disc. Credit: Will Gater
Towards the end of the transit a large cumulus cloud bank formed to the southeast and began to slowly drift in the direction of the Sun. As Venus was moments away from slipping off the solar disc the wispy edges of the cloud began to encroach onto the Sun, until finally the transit was completely obscured. And so began the 105 year wait for the next time that Venus glides gracefully across the face of our star.
One final note: throughout the transit I was using specialist solar filters to observe and photograph the Sun. Never point an unfiltered telescope, unfiltered pair of binoculars etc. at the Sun. You will damage your eyes and almost certainly blind yourself. If you want to observe the Sun only use specialist certified solar filters that have been fitted correctly (and thoroughly checked) and that have been purchased from a reputable astronomical supplier. Be sure to follow any usage instructions carefully. Finderscopes etc. should also be filtered or removed.
All images © Will Gater 2012
Photography Monthly interview on astrophotography
I had a lot of fun talking about astrophotography to Fiona Keating from Photography Monthly magazine a few weeks ago. The 4-page interview appears in the June issue of the magazine, which has just hit newsstands. In the interview I talk about some of the methods and equipment that can be used to take pictures of the night sky and the technical challenges astro imaging creates.
So if you’re thinking of getting into astrophotography, why not pick up a copy of the magazine and start snapping. And if you capture a great image, remember there’s a ‘best newcomer’ prize in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.
AR1476 and the seething Sun
Prominences leaping from the limb of the Sun on 11 May 2012. Credit: Will Gater
It was hard to decide where on the Sun to look first yesterday with all the activity that was going on. AR1476 was, of course, taking centre stage but there were also numerous filaments scattered over the disc, while around the limb there were several impressive prominences.
I managed to capture a few pictures of what was going on, but sadly the seeing conditions were poor and so the detail in the images isn’t very good.
The picture above and the first two pictures below were taken with an Imaging Source DMK 21AU618.AS CCD camera (shooting at 60FPS), a 2x Barlow lens and a Coronado PST hydrogen-alpha filtered telescope. The last image was taken with the DMK 21AU618.AS on an ETX90EC OTA fitted with a white-light solar filter.
A large prominence extends above the solar limb. Credit: Will Gater
AR1476 as seen in hydrogen alpha light on 11 May 2012. Credit: Will Gater
AR1476 imaged with a white-light solar filter on 11 May 2012. Credit: Will Gater
A word of warning: never point an unfiltered telescope, unfiltered pair of binoculars etc. at the Sun. You will damage your eyes and almost certainly blind yourself. If you want to observe the Sun only use specialist certified solar filters that have been fitted correctly (and thoroughly checked) and that have been purchased from a reputable astronomical supplier. Be sure to follow any usage instructions carefully. Finderscopes etc. should also be filtered or removed.
Solar imaging after the rain
With all this rain we’ve been having I was starting to wonder if we’d ever see the Sun again here in the UK. Thankfully, a few small gaps in the clouds last week did give me the chance to get the solar imaging kit out. The first two images below show the main active regions visible in hydrogen alpha light on the 6th May. These include AR1476 which had then only just appeared over the Sun’s limb. The third is from the 1st May.
The pictures were all taken using an Imaging Source DMK 21AU618.AS CCD camera (shooting at 60FPS), a 2x Barlow lens and a Coronado PST hydrogen-alpha filtered telescope.
As for AR1476, it has grown substantially since these pictures were taken. It now measures roughly 160,000km across according to Spaceweather.com. What’s more, as the Sun gets increasingly active in the run-up to solar maximum we can look forward to seeing more enormous sunspots and active regions, like AR1476, appearing on the Sun’s disc. As long as the clouds stay away that is.
A word of warning: never point an unfiltered telescope, unfiltered pair of binoculars etc. at the Sun. You will damage your eyes and almost certainly blind yourself. If you want to observe the Sun only use specialist certified solar filters that have been fitted correctly (and thoroughly checked) and that have been purchased from a reputable astronomical supplier. Be sure to follow any usage instructions carefully. Finderscopes etc. should also be filtered or removed.
Watching a wandering star
Over the past few weeks it’s been hard to miss Venus shining away high in the west after sunset. At the end of March it was less than 3 degrees from the crescent Moon, while the first week of April saw Venus drifting past the Pleiades star cluster. Below I’ve collected together some pictures of the planet that I’ve taken recently; clicking on each one will take you to a larger version.
The wide-field pictures were all taken with a Canon 550D DSLR and a zoom lens, while the close-up (showing Venus’s phase) was captured with a Philips SPC900NC webcam and an 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope.
A cold night imaging crater Copernicus and friends
Last night the atmosphere was particularly clear and steady here, so I took the opportunity to image some of my favourite lunar craters. All of the images below were captured using a Meade 203mm aperture Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and a Philips SPC900NC webcam. I also used a red (Wratten #23A) filter in front of the webcam to filter out some of the wavelengths of light that are more detrimentally affected by atmospheric undulations.
The images below are all mosaics. Each mosaic pane was made by taking a short video with the webcam and then sifting out the best 250 frames to be stacked and processed together into one more detailed image. Then each of the panes are arranged together to create the final mosaic image you see below. For example, the Clavius & Tycho image was made by stitching together 16 individual panes.
- The floor of crater Copernicus in shadow & the ghost crater Stadius. Credit: Will Gater
- The Tycho, Maginus, Clavius & Moretus region (click to enlarge). Credit: Will Gater
- Crater Plato, the Vallis Alpes and the Montes Teneriffe. Credit: Will Gater
Exploring the dark skies of Mid Wales
Back in November I spent a wonderfully quiet week staying near the town of Rhayader, in Mid Wales. The Welsh countryside around where I stayed is renowned for its wildlife and dramatic scenery, but the reason I went there – of course – was for its dark night skies. Unfortunately of the seven nights I was there only one was clear enough to get the telescope out.
Below you’ll find a few of the images I captured over the course of that evening. As you can see, thin patchy clouds and haze enhanced the small amount of light pollution visible, so I didn’t experience the skies there at their absolute darkest; which I guess means I’ll just have to go back and visit again next year.
- Venus sparkles above the vibrant glow of twilight. Credit: Will Gater
- Jupiter shines through thin mist against a starry backdrop. Credit: Will Gater
- The magnificent Orion rises over the skyline. Credit: Will Gater
- The Triangulum Galaxy. Taken with a Canon 550D on a William Optics 66mm refractor, autoguided by a Sky-Watcher SynGuider & an 80mm refractor. Credit: Will Gater
- The constellation of Auriga (and several bright star clusters). Credit: Will Gater
- The Crab Nebula (M1). Taken with a Canon 550D on a William Optics 66mm refractor, autoguided by a Sky-Watcher SynGuider & an 80mm refractor. Credit: Will Gater
An astronomical autumn on Dartmoor
Autumn is easily my favourite season for astronomy, partly because of the return of the dark skies but also because of the wealth of objects visible in the sky around this time. On the one hand some of the stunning summer sights are still visible low in the west, while at the same time the grand winter constellations are beginning to appear over the eastern horizon.
This autumn I’ve managed to get to my favourite dark sky site, on Dartmoor, a few times – though, admittedly, the imaging conditions haven’t always been great. Below are a few of the astro-images I’ve got to show for those trips.
All were taken with an unmodified Canon 550D DSLR camera. The wide field images were captured with the DSLR on a tracking mount. The close-ups were taken with the DSLR mounted on a William Optics ZenithStar 66mm refractor on an HEQ5 Pro mount. The whole setup was autoguided by an 80mm refractor and a Sky-Watcher SynGuider.
- The Milky Way in Cygnus, Cepheus & Lacerta. Credit: Will Gater
- The Double Cluster (NGC 869 & NGC 884). Credit: Will Gater
- The Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy, M33 & the Double Cluster. Credit: Will Gater
The Hyades star cluster Credit: Will Gater
- The Dumbbell Nebula. Credit: Will Gater
A Draconid meteor drops from the sky
- The Moon & clouds spoilt the peak of the Draconid meteor shower. Credit: Will Gater
After watching the clouds rolling in all day here I decided that the only way I’d have a chance of observing the peak of the Draconid meteor shower tonight would be if I followed the few gaps there were in the clouds by car. So, as the Sun was setting, I set off on a drive around Somerset looking for patches of clear sky. Unfortunately every time it looked as if I’d get a glimpse of the stars the clouds closed up obscuring everything. With complete cloud cover overhead I set off home thinking that was the end of the night.
Thankfully when I was about 15 miles from home the clouds broke and Jupiter and the Moon appeared to burst out of them in front of me. In an incredible stroke of luck there was a big lay-by about 100 metres ahead, so I pulled over and parked up. With small swathes of clear sky appearing overhead I set up the camera and began taking 20 second exposures at ISO 800.
- Gaps in the clouds afforded brief glimpses of a starry sky. Credit: Will Gater
Before the clouds closed in again I saw four Draconid meteors including a relatively bright one which I managed to photograph (below). It was a lot of effort to capture just one meteor on camera. Hopefully next time the clear skies will come to me so I don’t have to go chasing after them.
- A Draconid meteor shoots across the sky (click for a wide-field version). Credit: Will Gater
Delving into the dark skies of Dartmoor
The sky was wonderfully clear over my favourite dark sky site on Dartmoor on Saturday night, meaning I was able to spend several hours imaging objects in and around the Milky Way. Below are some of my images from that session, including a few of the lovely noctilucent cloud display that appeared over the northern horizon at about 02:00 BST. Clicking on each image will open a larger version.
- The Milky Way in Scutum & Sagittarius. Credit: Will Gater
- The globular cluster M22. Credit: Will Gater
- Noctilucent clouds on the northern horizon. Credit: Will Gater
- A close-up of the NLCs showing intricate structures. Credit: Will Gater
- Wave structures within the 3 July 2011 noctilucent cloud display. Credit: Will Gater
- More wave structures within the 3 July noctilucent cloud display. Credit: Will Gater
Noctilucent clouds light up the horizon — 1 July 2011
The height of the display, at roughly 3am BST, as seen from latitude 51°N. Credit: Will Gater
At around 3am BST this morning I spotted my first noctilucent clouds of the 2011 season. It was a fairly modest display, but did show some nice Type IIIb cloud structures at one point. Below are a few images I captured, along with two animations I made showing the clouds’ movement and changing structures. Clicking on the images will open up a larger version.
A panorama showing the extent of the display across the NE horizon. Credit: Will Gater
ANIMATION: click the image below to view the wide-angle animation. Credit: Will Gater
ANIMATION: click the image below to view the close-up animation. Credit: Will Gater
Starfields & skylarks – a night of imaging on Dartmoor
Capturing the night skies from the UK can often be a frustrating experience. You can spend ages setting up your scopes and cameras, carefully perfecting the mount’s tracking and getting everything in focus, but just as you’re ready to image the clouds have appeared.
Sometimes though it all comes together and you get a magical evening under the stars. For me, Friday night — on Dartmoor — was one of those precious nights.
I started taking images just before midnight. By the time I had finished, the sky towards the east was brightening and some very eager skylarks were beginning the dawn chorus. Below are a few shots I captured that night.
Seeing the Lagoon and Trifid Nebulae again reminded me that we have lots to look forward to over the coming summer months.
UPDATE 09.06.2011 — Here’s a short, admittedly poor quality, recording I made of the skylarks.
- The Lagoon (bottom) & Trifid Nebulae. Taken with a Canon 550D on a William Optics 66mm refractor, autoguided by a Sky-Watcher SynGuider & an 80mm refractor. Credit: Will Gater
- The crescent Moon over Haytor Rocks. Credit: Will Gater
- Venus sparkles in the eastern sky as dawn breaks. Credit: Will Gater
Calling all astrophotographers!
Today the Royal Observatory Greenwich, in association with Sky at Night Magazine, launched the 2011 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. This year, as well as the main judging categories, there’s a new special prize for the Robotic Scope Image of the Year. It’s aimed at astroimagers who use remote scopes, over the Internet, to capture their data before processing it.
I’m on the judging panel once again this year and, as before, I’m really looking forward to seeing what the world’s top astrophotographers have got in store for us. So, whether you use a remote observatory or your own kit, photograph meteors or the Moon, if you’ve taken an amazing astronomical shot recently make sure you enter it into the competition!
Logo credit: National Maritime Museum/The Royal Observatory, Greenwich.
Astronomy Photographer of the Year awards video
My video report, for Sky at Night Magazine, from the 2010 Astronomy Photographer of the Year awards is now online and I’ve embedded it below.
If you’re in London over the next few months, it’s really worth popping into the Royal Observatory, Greenwich to see the pictures. The exhibition is free and open until February 2011.
Be sure to click the 720p HD button for the best quality playback.
Video credit: Sky at Night Magazine
&w=320&h=240Spot Comet Hartley 2 as it passes Earth
Comet Hartley 2 can be seen with binoculars from dark skies. Credit: WillGater.com
Comet Hartley 2 is making its way through our neck of the planetary woods over the coming weeks, so now’s your chance to go out and see it.
I took the above picture of the comet last weekend. The comet itself is the green/grey smudge at the centre of the frame. The stars are trailed because the image has been processed in such a way that the comet remains stationary in the view. It’s a nice illustration of how the comet itself is zipping across the sky, against the background stars.
If you’re thinking of looking for the comet yourself, you’ll need a good pair of binoculars (or a small telescope) and some relatively dark skies. There’s a handy locator chart, showing you where to look, on Heavens-Above.com here. Don’t expect to see anything as impressive as Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) or Comet 17P/Holmes, from 2007, though. It appears as a faint grey smudge.
If you’re into astrophotography, the comet will also be passing close to the Double Cluster (NGC 884 & 869) on the 8 and 9 October, providing a superb celestial photo-op. Good luck, clear skies and happy comet hunting!
Update 10/10/10: Pete Lawrence caught this wonderful image of Comet Hartley 2 & the Double Cluster on the 7th October.
A chilly crescent
Despite the bitterly cold wind, tonight’s crescent Moon was a sight that I couldn’t resist photographing. The first and third shots show an interesting phenomenon known as ‘Earthshine’ where the shadowed part of the Moon is partially illuminated by light reflected off the Earth. If you look closely at the first image you’ll be able to make out some of the more prominent lunar ‘seas’. Jupiter was not far from the Moon tonight too, as can be seen in the last two shots. Click on the images to see larger versions and remember to look out for the faint glow of Earthshine the next time you see a thin crescent Moon.
The Moon with Earthshine. Credit: Will Gater
The Moon and Jupiter at twilight. Credit: Will Gater
The Moon and Jupiter at twilight. Credit: Will Gater
Are you 2009′s Astronomy Photographer of the Year?
The night sky provides a wealth of astro-imaging targets. Image credit: WillGater.com
Each month the astro-magazines, Internet forums and websites fill with countless stunning amateur images of nebulae, galaxies, the Moon and more. Often they’ve been taken with a huge range of equipment; from a point and shoot camera held over the telescope eyepiece to many thousands of pounds worth of equipment and CCD cameras. It’s no secret that today accomplished ‘amateur’ astronomers, with quite modest equipment, are producing images whose quality is on a par with (and in some cases far excels) those from professional telescopes, taken a few decades ago. You just have to look at the monthly reader Hotshots pages of Sky At Night Magazine to see what amateur astro-imagers are capable of nowadays!
To celebrate the burgeoning nature of this exciting aspect of astronomy the Royal Observatory Greenwich, in association with BBC Sky At Night Magazine, have just launched the 2009 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. It’s open to everyone around the globe so, if you’ve taken an amazing astro-image that you want to show off to the world, now’s your chance to enter. There are several categories, to cover the many different celestial subjects, including; “Earth and Space” which is for landscapes with an astronomy interest, “Deep Sky” for galaxies and nebulae and “Our Solar System” for pictures of the Sun’s celestial family. The overall winner will receive £1000, with runners up etc. receiving other prizes. Getting youngsters interested in the night sky is also vitally important for astronomy, as both a hobby and a science, so there’s also the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition for entrants under 16 years of age.
When the results have been decided there’s going to be a free exhibition of the winning images at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich from 10th September 2009 to 10th January 2010. You can find out more and read all the rules on the National Maritime Museum/Royal Observatory’s website here. I’m on the judging panel and I genuinely can’t wait for the images to start coming in, so I can see the fruits of your labours. So good luck to those of you who enter and let’s hope 2009 brings us all some nice clear skies to savour!
