A determined amateur astronomer, mathematician Mark Shelley, has captured stunning views of the stars, using very long exposures to 'soak up' as much light as possible as his motorised telescope tracks across the sky.Amazingly, it's all done on a second-hand telescope he received as a Christmas present in 2006.
People are generally amazed at the quality of images produced by relatively simple equipment,’ explained Mr Shelley. ‘Before the age of digital cameras, it was only the professional observatories that could produce such images.‘I am one of the few people who have successfully taken pictures of the International Space Station in orbit,’
He said. Taking pictures of the Space Station requires precise knowledge of where the ISS is going to fly over and extremely precise timing - it moves at 17,500mph. ‘By their very nature they are very small images because the Space Station is in orbit 250 miles above the ground. ‘However, the solar panels, astronaut living quarters and laboratories can be clearly seen.’
Mark moved to his present five-bedroom detached home in the Kent countryside to take even more spectacular images of space phenomena. ‘I now live in a village outside Tenterden in Kent, where the sky is much darker than Sidcup,’ he said.‘This has made a huge difference, allowing me to tackle beautiful but faint objects that would previously have been impossible' ‘It's a great feeling to see a faint grey fuzzy object in the eyepiece of a telescope and then take a long exposure photograph of the same thing.'
‘Suddenly, bright colours spring to life and huge amounts of extra detail emerge. ‘It is a delight to see the camera reveal details that are too faint for the human eye to even see.’
Mark uses long exposures to capture his stellar-images, keeping the shutter of his camera open for up to five minutes to trap the light from the stars - light from some of the most distant objects Mark captures has travelled for up to 70 million years to reach his eyepiece.
The planet Mars. This was imaged by replacing the telescope eyepiece with a webcam. But the biggest challenge is that the stars and all celestial objects are moving across the sky during the course of the night,’ said Mark.‘Everyone is familiar with ‘star trail’ pictures taken with a stationary camera.‘To avoid these star trails it is necessary for the telescope to accurately follow the motion of the stars. ‘This is achieved by using a motorised telescope mount whose axis is aligned with the Earth's axis.’
People are generally amazed at the quality of images produced by relatively simple equipment,’ explained Mr Shelley. ‘Before the age of digital cameras, it was only the professional observatories that could produce such images.‘I am one of the few people who have successfully taken pictures of the International Space Station in orbit,’
He said. Taking pictures of the Space Station requires precise knowledge of where the ISS is going to fly over and extremely precise timing - it moves at 17,500mph. ‘By their very nature they are very small images because the Space Station is in orbit 250 miles above the ground. ‘However, the solar panels, astronaut living quarters and laboratories can be clearly seen.’
Mark moved to his present five-bedroom detached home in the Kent countryside to take even more spectacular images of space phenomena. ‘I now live in a village outside Tenterden in Kent, where the sky is much darker than Sidcup,’ he said.‘This has made a huge difference, allowing me to tackle beautiful but faint objects that would previously have been impossible' ‘It's a great feeling to see a faint grey fuzzy object in the eyepiece of a telescope and then take a long exposure photograph of the same thing.'
‘Suddenly, bright colours spring to life and huge amounts of extra detail emerge. ‘It is a delight to see the camera reveal details that are too faint for the human eye to even see.’
Mark uses long exposures to capture his stellar-images, keeping the shutter of his camera open for up to five minutes to trap the light from the stars - light from some of the most distant objects Mark captures has travelled for up to 70 million years to reach his eyepiece.
The planet Mars. This was imaged by replacing the telescope eyepiece with a webcam. But the biggest challenge is that the stars and all celestial objects are moving across the sky during the course of the night,’ said Mark.‘Everyone is familiar with ‘star trail’ pictures taken with a stationary camera.‘To avoid these star trails it is necessary for the telescope to accurately follow the motion of the stars. ‘This is achieved by using a motorised telescope mount whose axis is aligned with the Earth's axis.’
