If I could have my dream job it would have to be an Astronomer, because it combines three of my favorite things: mathematics, photography, and astronomy. The reason I chose astronomy for this blog post is because when I first read the assignment that was the first thing that came to mind for me. Ever since I can remember I’ve wanted to be an astronomer the concept of space and time fascinates me. Now just imagine capturing images of the nebulas, planets, and stars, that’s what I would want to do. Astrophotography was something I had no idea existed, I always thought that only the satellites and Hubble telescope could take pictures of what was out in the universe. When I found out that I too could take my own images of space I fell in love. I have introduced to this concept about five years ago, it was actually at Miracosta’s star party. I put my phone up to the eyepiece of one of the telescopes and took a picture of the moon, and then went up to the next telescope and took a picture of Saturn. They weren’t very high quality but at the time it was the coolest thing I had ever captured. I was so excited, I bugged my parents for a telescope, which we still haven’t gotten so that I could take photos from our backyard. A year or two later my mom took me to OPT , in Oceanside for the transit of Venus. It occurs every hundred years in pairs spaced over the course of eight years, so the next one won’t happen until at least 2112. Again at this event, I used my phone up against the eyepiece of a telescope to take pictures of the Venus transit. This time I had heard about a photo competition for the astrological event and decided to send one of mine in. I ended up getting recognized on their page for having one of the top twenty photos that were sent in. This very moment, I was so proud of what I had done. I grew my love for the hobby even more. I have tons of astronomy books that I look at in my spare time. The one thing that I try to do is attend all of OPT’s events. They teach me so much and build up my love for astrophotography. The most fascinating aspect out of everything that I currently know about astrophotography is that when images are taken the light that is captured can be centuries old. It’s crazy, practically time travel, looking at something that has traveled so far for so long and has lasted blows my mind. Being able to capture it is such an adrenaline rush. This last weekend of September, OPT had a star party that we went to, I got to us the owners at least twenty thousand dollar telescope to take photos of the crescent nebula. It is known by astrophotographers to be one of the hardest to capture. It is five thousand light years from earth and a reddish color, the nebula is located in the Cygnus constellation. I was taught how to stack different exposures to create a composite photo that creates the typical images of celestial clusters. To have my astrophotographic work published in a national geographic magazine would be a dream come true. If I could pursue astronomy/astrophotography as a career I would be set for life, there would be no reason for me to ever be unhappy with my work. Not many people get to combine everything they are passionate about into one career.
This Image is taken on my phone through the eyepiece of a telescope of the 2012 Venus Transit. Venus is the large black spot located on the bottom right. The other dots are sunspots.
This image is of the Crescent Nebula. It is a stacked photo of six three-minute long exposures. No color has been given to the image.
More related links
http://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/pubs/mm_dec03-Venus.pdf
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