Deep Space
Exhibition
Category winners – Deep Space
This category was a real showcase for photographers’ technical skills, with amazing pictures from beyond our Solar System, including stars, nebulae and galaxies. Tell us what you think about the winners in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year group on Flickr.
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Deep Space – winner
Horsehead Nebula by Martin Pugh (UK)
A few words from the photographer: ‘An extremely popular imaging target, it was an absolute “must do” for me. My objective was to produce a high-quality, high-resolution image, blending in Hydrogen-Alpha data to enhance the nebulosity. If I could change something about this photograph I would expand the frame to include the Flame Nebula, and then expand it further to pick up the Great Orion Nebula to create a superlative wide-field vista of this region.’
What’s in the picture: The Horsehead Nebula, is a dark cloud of gas and dust. The gas, dust and other materials condense to form dense knots, which will eventually become stars and planets. New stars have already formed inside part of the dust cloud, as can be seen on the bottom left.
Equipment: SBIG STL11000 CCD camera guided with adaptive optics; 12.5-inch RC Optical Systems Ritchey-Chrétien telescope; Software Bisque Paramount ME mount; 19 hours of exposures
What competition judge Chris Lintott thought: ‘I think this is the perfect deep-sky image; perfectly composed, it grabs your attention straight away. When you look closer, the detail is absolutely stunning, whether it’s the fine structure in the curtain behind the horse or the subtle details on the edge of the dark nebula itself.’
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Deep Space – runner-up
Galaxies M81 and M82 by Edward Henry (USA)
A few words from the photographer: ‘I got interested in astronomy at an early age and was about ten when I put two lenses together and saw what they did. I quickly learned that what I would like to do is take pictures, but knew that I wouldn’t enjoy the way it had to be done then with film and manual guiding. As an older adult, when I saw the technology being created with computers and CCD cameras, I got back into it heavily and built my own observatory.’
What’s in the picture: This composition shows two galaxies millions of light years away, each consisting of billions of stars. The galaxy on the right is a two-armed spiral galaxy, much like our own. The pink colour, enhanced by the photographer’s filter, is hydrogen. The galaxy on the left is also a spiral, but is seen edge on. A spray of hydrogen is coming from its centre, forced out by a huge burst of star formation.
Equipment: SBIG ST4000 colour CCD camera and SBIG ST10 XME CCD camera; TMB 130-mm refractor, 10-inch Meade telescope and a Meade RCX400 12-inch telescope; two-part mosaic, 20 hours worth of exposure each
What competition judge Marek Kukula thought: ‘The detail in this image is impressive, with the two distant galaxies floating in space behind the foreground of stars from our own Milky Way. I like the way the photographer has highlighted the pink glow of hydrogen gas to show the different natures of the two objects: in M81 it gently traces the spiral arms of the galaxy while in M82 the gas is being blasted from the centre of the galaxy by a violent burst of new star formation.’
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Deep Space – highly-commended
Galactic Dust in Corona Australis by Martin Pugh (UK)
A few words from the photographer: ‘A beautiful region of Corona Australis packed with reflection, dark and variable nebulae, globular clusters and distant galaxies. A great challenge to image the entire region at high resolution.’
What’s in the picture: Two blue-reflection nebulae, clouds of dust scattering the light of nearby stars, dominate this photograph. They are associated with young stars, not more than a few million years old. A much older globular cluster of thousands of stars can be seen at the top right.
Equipment: SBIG STL11000 CCD camera guided with adaptive optics; 12.5-inch RC Optical Systems Ritchey-Chrétien telescope; Software Bisque Paramount ME mount; 40 hours worth of exposures
What competition judge Pete Lawrence thought: ‘This image is technically excellent and has the wow factor that grabs me. I could spend hours looking at it and could lose myself in the image.’
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Deep Space – highly-commended
Centaurus-A: Ultra-Deep Field by Michael Sidonio (Australia)
A few words from the photographer: ‘Inspired by a challenge from Dr David Malin, I pointed my telescope and camera at this wonderful galaxy for three full consecutive clear nights to see what was really there! This deep image reveals an enormous galaxy covering an area of sky several times larger than the full moon and the whole field is covered in ultra faint Milky Way dust.’
What's in the picture: All the stars seen in the foreground of this image are from our own Milky Way, with the Centaurus-A galaxy in the centre, millions of light years beyond. At some time in the past Centaurus-A has merged with another, smaller galaxy and the debris from this collision forms the rusty brown band of dust across its middle.
Equipment: Finger Lakes Instrumentation ProLine 11002 CCD camera; Astro-Physics StarFire 152-mm EDF refractor; 19.5 hours worth of exposures
What competition judge Rebekah Higgitt thought: ‘I love the utter strangeness of this image – the viewer instantly wants to know more about a universe that contains an object like this. The fact that the shot was taken over three full consecutive nights tells us a lot about the remoteness of the view and the commitment of the photographer.’
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Deep Space – highly-commended
Eta Carina Nebula by Thomas Davis (USA)
A few words from the photographer: ‘I had a telescope when I was young but whenever I looked through it I was somewhat disappointed by what I saw. None of the objects looked like the images in books. Therefore I started imaging, first on film and then CCD. Imaging allows me to see the wonders of the heavens in detail and colour. This image shows the massive star-forming region through narrowband filters, the so-called “Hubble Palette”.’
What’s in the picture: This photograph shows part of a vast nebula, or cloud of dust and gas, from which a new generation of stars is condensing. In the centre a group of bright young stars has already ignited, burning off the surrounding gas and dust to form an enormous void in the heart of the nebula. The Eta Carina nebula lies at an estimated distance of between 6,500 and 10,000 light years away.
Equipment: FLI Proline CCD camera; Astro-Physics 155-mm EDF refractor; sulphur II, hydrogen alpha, and oxygen II filters; 13.5 hours worth of exposures
What competition judge Will Gater thought: ‘This is one of the most spectacular images of this region that I’ve ever seen. The image shows the depth of the cavernous region. You get a wonderful sense of falling into the heart of the nebula.’
