Astrophotography

Yes, this Tuesday (010808) a SOLAR ECLIPSE is swinging it's way upon us. The path of totality will commence in Arctic Canada and travel across Greenland, Russia, Siberia, Mongolia and conclude in China. Totality will be witnessed by many fortunate indigenous people living in it's shadow and many, many travellers from around the globe, who are placing their ambitions in the oh~so random cosmos. Luckily for us Northern Europeans, a partial eclipse of the Sun will be visible, weather permitting, or fingers crossed for a cloud break. A SYZYGY - wow - what a fantabulous word. (...the alignment of 3 or more celestial bodies ... Read Full Story

We've known for a while that large astronomical events can spell bad news for life:  supernovae unleash unimaginable levels radiation, asteroids can kick up climate-killing clouds, and black holes can suck things out of existence altogether.  Now it seems that simply wandering too close to big star can evaporate a planet before it even forms. University of Arizona astronomers have surveyed a thousand stars in the Rosette Nebula - that might sound like a song lyric, but we assure you it's real scientific study.  They found that those that most of those which ventured too close to O Stars were barren, stripped of even ... Read Full Story

An international team of astronomers using new Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) in Arizona has found that the Hercules Dwarf Galaxy, a recently discovered tiny companion to our Milky Way at a distance of 430,000 light years, has truly unusual properties. While basically all of its known peers in the realm of these dwarf galaxies are rather round, this galaxy appears highly flattened, either the shape of a disk or of a cigar. The stars in many large galaxies are arranged in a disk-like configuration, as in our own Milky Way. Yet in smaller galaxies like the Hercules Dwarf, which despite its name has only ... Read Full Story

Collected by lightstalking Backyard astronomy photography is probably one of the most difficult types of photography that can be undertaken by the amateur photographer. It is also one of the most equipment intensive and expensive types of photography. Luckily for us, some amateur photographers still take the time to equip and train themselves and so are able to show us remarkable work like the astronomy photos below. But it is not an easy thing to do this type of photography. In fact a quick look at the Flickr pools available to photographers of astronomical images quickly shows that this niche requires a lot of ... Read Full Story

  Over the last few months, I've been acquiring equipment to foray in to the amateur astrophotography realm. I've always had an interest in astronomy since I was a child. I’m finally in the position where I can afford my adult toys.  The problem with being an adult is that your hobbies become way more expensive than when you were a child. I now have three very expensive hobbies; Canyoneering, Astronomy with a focus on Astrophotography and being a Pilot. A few years ago, I picked up a Mead ETX 70 goto telescope when I was in Las Vegas a few years ago with some of my gambling winnings. ... Read Full Story