CELESTIAL PORTRAITS

A Collection of Astro Imagery

A Collection Of Astro Imagery

An Insight Into Astrophotography

Images

[IMAGES] This site contains a personal collection of astronomy images taken with various astronomical instrument in selected locations around the world (mainly Singapore and Malaysia). The images have been recorded using mediums ranging from conventional film emulsion to CCD.

Astrophotography

[Astrophotography] First of all, astrophotography is not just about getting state-of-the-art equipment and then get on the road to imaging. It is about patience and the willingness to rough out and experience the ups and downs of the learning journey, which is in itself the drive to keep one going in this fascinating aspect of astronomy. It is not about obtaining pretty pictures, it is more about learning to understanding your equipment better, capturing the images in challenging conditions (especially in this part of the world where the weather is the ultimate component in enabling potentially good image capture), and fine tuning one's skills in digital image processing in order to bring out the best in any given image, be it film, or digital. It is nevetheless a demanding yet extremely rewarding pursuit once you see the end result. It is demanding because to achieve excellence requires a number of factors to all be at the highest level, and rewarding for the satisfaction of having achieved success in a difficult field. It is also rewarding because a permanent record is created which can be shown to others.

There are various levels of astro-imaging. The entry level into this pursuit need not be high if one is happy to photograph the Moon, Sun and the brightest planets. Such objects should not be decried as there are some renowned amateur astrophotographers who photograph little else, even travelling to another continent to seek excellent seeing for taking these astrophotographs! The other end of the spectrum involves taking high resolution deep sky images using CCDs and DSLRs, with several issues to take care of (and learn!). Through this website, the author hopes to showcase a collection of images taken through the different imaging mediums, together with some details of the image capture process.

The Author

[THE AUTHOR] With the advent of technology, astrophotography has risen to a whole new level, with the ability to capture high resolution images with modest amateur instruments, avoiding the need to invest heavily.

Since 1990, the author has taken an avid interest in the various fields of astronomical imaging, ranging from emulsion-based (film), CMOS, to CCD deep sky imaging, with the data acquisition of information including the wide-field panoramic expanse of the Milky Way to narrow-field record of galaxies and planetary nebulae. He has also taken a keen interest in the areas of planetary and solar system high-resolution imaging (from sunspots to assembling of lunar mosaics covering detailed lunar topographical surfaces), resulting in image publications in internationally renowned astronomy magazines like Astronomy.

News

[LATEST NEWS 100806] Astro Imaging Workshop in NUS will be held on 18th August 2006. Interested participants, please email.

[LATEST NEWS 191205] The Expeditions section has been uploaded. You can view it directly here.

Astroblog

[ASTROBLOG 070207] Comet McNaught taken at dusk!

[ASTROBLOG 060207] Comet McNaught. The brightest comet in four decades!

[ASTROBLOG 110606] M22 GLOBULAR CLUSTER. The popular globular cluster in Sagittarius.

[ASTROBLOG 050606] IC4628 EMISSION NEBULA. This faint emission nebula is rarely recorded by amateur astrophotographers. Located adjacent to the more popular NGC6231 open cluster in Scorpius, it is sometimes known as the Prawn Nebula, with itself being part of a larger extent of faint nebulosity in the lower Scorpius region.

[ASTROBLOG 040606] OMEGA CENTAURI CCD COLOUR IMAGE. Luminance data gathered from Malaysia. Colour data obtained from Singapore. Total exposure duration of 4.5 hours, taken with a 3-inch refractor.

Astroprelim

[ASTRO PRELIMINARIES] Adjust your monitor so each square below appears as a distinct shade of grey. Otherwise, you will miss much of the detail in the images.

Remus CJ 2007© All Rights Reserved.
All content is property of its author. Partial or total reproduction without the author's written permission is strictly forbidden under any circumstances.

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