Celestial glimpses through astrophotography
We are living in regions with an excess of light pollution and tend to miss many interesting celestial glimpses which are inspiring. A treck to the Himalayas seems to be the only way that we can get a feel for the presence of a large number of stars visible in the sky, their interesting overnight movements, dark sky phenomena like Zodiacal light (a faint glow of celestial light pollution arising from the debris in the solar system), or views of fuzzily beautiful deep sky objects scattered here and there in the sky.
Well, there is one other vicarious way we could have a glimpse of these wonders without trekking all the way to the Himalayas. This is through such glimpses which have been caught by the lenses of intrepid amateur astronomers and astrophotographers. Capturing these glimpses through a lens is no easy endeavour – it has a steep learning curve and requires a deep love of the skies.
Astrophotography is a practice in which light photons are collected from heavenly bodies, photons which have travelled eons through space. Through astrophotography we are looking at the past, far far back in time.
Astrophotography has become the fashion & passion of the times. Photographing night landscapes, deep sky objects and planets is emerging up as a satisfying hobby in India. It is actually a niche field and quite different from day photography, in equipment and practice.
During a teaching session of astrophotography conducted by Aperture Telescopes, participants caught interesting glimpses of the night sky in its many avatars which are being exhibited at the Nehru Planetarium, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. Viewing the exhibition will be like a lesson in basic positional astronomy!
Aperture Telescopes & Nehru Planetarium (Nehru Memorial Museum & Library) invite you to this unique astrophotography exhibition from a Sky Photo Trip conducted in the foothills of the Himalayas.
The Exhibition opens at 4pm, Saturday, 8th October, 2011 at the Nehru Planetarium, Teen Murti Bhawan, New Delhi (exhibition display continues entire October, noon to 5pm, except Mondays.)
There will be a public skywatch with telescopes from sunset to 8 PM following the inauguration of the exhibition.