WELCOME TO IMAGES FROM THE COSMOS ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY! This website is designed and set up to share
some amazing sights, to provide information both about astronomy and
astrophotography, and to provoke reflection about our place in this stranger
than fiction universe. There is a description about the telescopes and cameras I
use, a gallery of some of my favorite photos, a bit about myself and how to
contact me, and resources for more information about astronomy and
astrophotography. I hope you'll enjoy this site as much as I have in putting it
together. And I hope it may add a new dimension to your life through viewing and
reflecting on these Images From the Cosmos.
To get started, please take a few minutes to view the video below that is composed of some of my images set to the music of Constance Demby. It conveys some of the grandeur and mystery of our amazing universe!
Note: The website is best enjoyed while watching it in a room with subdued light.
some amazing sights, to provide information both about astronomy and
astrophotography, and to provoke reflection about our place in this stranger
than fiction universe. There is a description about the telescopes and cameras I
use, a gallery of some of my favorite photos, a bit about myself and how to
contact me, and resources for more information about astronomy and
astrophotography. I hope you'll enjoy this site as much as I have in putting it
together. And I hope it may add a new dimension to your life through viewing and
reflecting on these Images From the Cosmos.
To get started, please take a few minutes to view the video below that is composed of some of my images set to the music of Constance Demby. It conveys some of the grandeur and mystery of our amazing universe!
Note: The website is best enjoyed while watching it in a room with subdued light.
Below are recent images taken with my 11-inch Celestron Edge telescope in Scottsdale, AZ. As the months pass I will be adding new images to this section along with comments. Continue to the next sections of the website to learn about my instruments, see images of objects from the moon to distant galaxies, and end with section about my astronomy/astrophotography journey.
THANK YOU for viewing this website. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at starryrobert@aol.com
THANK YOU for viewing this website. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at starryrobert@aol.com
RECENT IMAGES...
Each season of the year presents an abundance of objects that can be photographed by amateur telescopes, thanks to the advances in photographic technology as well as constantly improving optical systems and telescope mountings. From my first efforts at astrophotography in the early 1950s (see Personal and Resources page) to the present, I never could have foreseen the vast improvements that now make it possible for both nearby and vastly distant objects to be imaged with such clarity.
The Horsehead Nebula
The constellation Orion, the familiar warrior of the winter months, displays in its belt emission nebulae (see Astrophotos section for a description of this kind of nebula), and this nebula is part of a vast field of dust and gas. Dark gas and dust in the foreground is silhouetted by a bright, glowing red background, producing the shape of a horse's head. This nebula is relatively nearby in our galaxy at only 1,375 light years (l.y.). The image was completed in an hour using many stacked images to produce the final photograph. Telescope: Celestron 11-inch Edge at F/5; Camera: Atik Color Infinity
M27, The Dumbbell Nebula
A favorite of the late summer sky is the planetary nebula, M27, also known as the Dumbbell Nebula (see Astrophoto section for a description of planetary nebulae). This is a high resolution image of the same object that appears at the top of each website section. This photo, however, gives a greater sense of the tenuousness of the gas rapidly expanding around the central star that exploded about 8,900 years ago and has become a very dense white dwarf. About 1,200 l.y. distant, M27's sphere of gas continues to expand at a rapid rate. Telescope: Celestron 11-inch Edge at F/10; Camera: Atik Color Horizon (Photo consists of many stacked images for 30 min.)
M87's Streaming Jet
Perhaps one of the most fascinating deep-sky photographs I have ever made is seen below. M87 is a huge elliptical galaxy, many times the mass of our Milky Way Galaxy. It is also home to the very first supermassive black hole to be imaged, an amazing feat accomplished by a world-wide effort that astonished the astronomy community in 2019. Extending thousands of light years from the black hole are two jets of material flying out into space at nearly the speed of light. One of the jets is aimed almost directly toward us, the other is heading in the precise opposite direction but hidden by the galaxy. Elliptical galaxies have no arms (as does M51 below) and very little gas or dust since this has been used up for star formation. In the telescope they are not particularly interesting objects to look at, but this one is very notable because at a distance of 54 million l.y. I was able to image the jet extending from the nucleus of the galaxy! The final image consists of many stacked images over 30 min. Telescope: Celestron 11-inch Edge at F/10; Camera: Atik Color Horizon
Venus
Through April 2020 Venus shines brilliantly in the western sky. Because of its size Venus has been referred to as our "sister planet." But there any similarity ends. Its high reflectivity (albedo) is caused by the thick layer of carbon dioxide clouds obscuring from the visual light spectrum any surface features. Looking at Venus we can see a planetary warming process gone amok, creating a suffocatingly hot surface with no possibility of life. Because Venus is between us and the sun, it shows phases like the Moon. In the photo below it is at a right angle relative to us and the Sun and exhibits a half-lit orb. All that said, nothing can surpass Venus as the vivid and beautiful evening or morning "star." Telescope: Celestron 11-inch Edge at F/10; Camera: ZWO 290MC color video
Comet Atlas (C/2019 Y4)
A new visitor to the Solar System is Comet Atlas discovered by a robotic survey telescope. This photo was made April 14, 2020, when the comet was about 93 million miles from the earth, but approaching rapidly as it moves to a rendezvous with the Sun. Observed magnitude was 9.3, which means it can only be seen now in large binoculars or small telescopes. Located in a region near the North Star, it will reach its predicted maximum brightness of nearly -5 on May 28 when it is 72,540,000 miles from the Earth. That means it should be quite visible to the naked eye. Predicting comet brightness is notoriously difficult because a comet can disintegrate as it approaches the Sun and literally burn out. This comet appears to have the potential for putting on quite a show. I will be posting here photos of the comet at it approaches us. Stay tuned! Telescope: Celestron 11-inch Edge at F/10; Camera: Atik Color Horizon (image is composed of two 90 second stacked images for a total exposure of 3 minutes)
M51, The Whirlpool Galaxy
This beautiful, grand-design spiral galaxy seen face-on is often photographed. In fact, a major claim to fame is that it was the first object to be imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) with very disappointing results. A flaw in the mechanical construction of the telescope rendered all images badly out of focus. This fault was later corrected optically by astronauts in a demanding repair operation so the telescope now performs to its original specifications. At 23 million l.y. distant M51 is close enough and bright enough to be seen visually in many amateur telescopes under dark skies, though the detail shown here photographically cannot been seen except in the largest instruments. This galaxy is also notable because it is gravitationally interacting with a much smaller galaxy at the end of the lower arm. Eventually this smaller galaxy will be absorbed into the larger one. We believe this absorption process is behind the development of all large galaxies, including our Milky Way Galaxy. Telescope: Celestron 11-inch Edge at F/10; Camera: Atik Color Horizon (using many stacked images over one hour)