What is Astrophotography?
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Have you ever gone out at night and taken a picture of the full moon, or have you ever looked at images taken by a space telescope? If your answer to either of these questions is “yes”, you’ve already had a glimpse into the astrophotography world. Astrophotography is the act of taking a picture of a celestial object, whether it’s with your camera, or Hubble’s space telescope, and the subject of the photo can be anything from the North Star to the moon. The first ever astrophotograph was taken in 1840, by John William Draper. It was a daguerreotype of the moon, and it laid the groundwork for the astrophotography we all admire today. For a successful astrophotograph, light must be captured as it is reflected off of an object (in this case, the moon). Early photographers were always looking for new subject matter in order to hone their craft, and astrophotography was born as they pointed their cameras and telescopes toward the sky. As the studies of photography and astronomy have gotten more complex, various Earth-orbiting telescopes and Earth-bound observatories have carried on the tradition of photographing the heavens. Every day, scientists are coming up with new methods for taking astrophotographs from ever-greater distances. Today, many professionals and backyard hobbyists alike use digital or film cameras in their astrophotography; some are using webcams or video cameras. These people can hook up their equipment to telescopes at different magnification so they can get more resolute images. Other equipment can be used as well; guides can help keep a camera steady during long exposures, and timers can make the process a lot easier. A telephoto lens can make images appear bigger in the photographic frame, and these pieces of equipment will continue to help bring us these stunning astrophotographs. | |