Popularizing Astronomy with Astrophotography

Private Property- Chris Cannon

Astronomy does not seem to be everyone’s favorite hobby for some reason. If I said to you, point to Regulus. Would you know where to look? Probably not. It’s Just a bunch of dots in the sky. Why is it important anyway? How about the preservation of mankind, and intelligent life in general? Although, finding out that we are the only “life” in the known universe would be mind-blowing, the discovery of other “life-forms” would be monumental in the advancement of humankind. Not to mention advantages in Industry, Aerospace, Energy, Medicine, International collaborations and well, everyday life. Ok so, how do we get the public interested in stuff billions of miles away?

Seeing is believing. Or so they say. Galileo Galilei could only describe what he saw through his telescope. One of my favorite stories is when Galileo tried to convince the Catholic Church that the moon had mountains 5 miles high. The church told him he was wrong and that God made the moon. They told him it was made of crystal and it was perfect in every way. He replied, “Ok, you’re right but on its surface there are mountains 5 miles high”. (Galileo also told the church that the Earth was not at the center of the solar system, but that’s another story). He then faced an inquisition and was threatened with torture. He spent his final years under house arrest. Some celestial photographs might have helped him make his case.

Galileo's Telescope

The first night time astronomical photograph was of the moon coincidently. It just so happens to be the brightest object in the night sky. Technology did not allow early astronomers to take photographs of low light objects such as stars, because stars are dim. The only way to photograph them is to keep the shutter open a long time and allow more photons to hit the camera’s sensor. The longer the shutter is open the farther those stars move. The result is streaks across the sky, not points of starry light. So it was, not that popular right away. Eventually they got the telescopes tracking properly, which allowed for much longer exposures. The longer exposures allowed astronomers to photograph faint low light stars. Combined with a technique that involved stacking of the negatives, they were then able to capture more detail. The images though, were not that interesting to the non-astronomer. Compared to today’s standards, of course.

Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope has changed not only our standards for astrophotography, but also how we see the universe. For those that don’t know, Hubble is a telescope that orbits Earth taking pictures of space, un-obstructed by our atmosphere. While Hubble has helped astronomers make important scientific discoveries, it’s actually most famous for the breathtaking images it’s produced of the cosmos. Elizabeth Kessler, an art history professor at Stanford University, states that before Hubble, most photographs of space were in black and white. She explains that,

“Hubble’s photos look more like the shades we might see in a landscape of the Southwest. Skies tend to be blue, celestial bodies in reds and yellow. So a jet of gas unimaginably large looks like a dramatic outcropping of rock at a national park. That’s not an accident. Hubble’s photos are created by human image processors from gigabytes of data, and those specialists make aesthetic choices that make the cosmos look more familiar.”

By making the images more attractive and familiar, Hubble captured the attention of the public. People are paying attention. Not only are they paying attention, some want to participate.

Carina Nebula- Hubble Space Telescope

                Adam Block is a world renowned astrophotographer. He is famous for his public astronomy programs at Mount lemmon SkyCenter in Arizona. Block recently was honored for his contributions to the popularization of astronomy.

“Astrophotography is one facet of the way I reach people. When I administer programs atop Mount Lemmon SkyCenter I can only inspire as far as my voice can carry. However, pictures I create have much greater reach. Once published, they can be seen by people around the world. And they have”

"Moon over Andromeda"- Adam Block

Many of Adams photographs have been published in books such as "A Year in the Life of the Universe," " Cosmic Butterflies," "Beyond Earth," "Encyclopedia of Amateur Astronomy," "The Caldwell Objects" and "Night Wonders." His images have appeared in National Geographic, Sky & Telescope, Coleum, Astronomie, Scientific American, Ciel & Espace, The Practical Astronomer and other magazines. NASA has even run Block's astrophotos as the "Astronomy Photo of the Day," and Space.com has featured a lot of his images as their “image of the day’.

Astrophotography is not just for the professionals anymore. With digital cameras and post-editing software becoming more common, just about anyone can photograph the cosmos. The equipment is getting cheaper and backyard observatories are beginning to pop up. Artist and hobbyist alike, are learning the night sky, and by default, are becoming amateur astronomers. As astrophotography becomes more popular, the more popular astronomy becomes.

Ref: 

https://www.adamblockphotos.com/about.html 

http://www.biography.com/people/galileo-9305220#reaction-by-the-church 

Kessler, Elizabeth A. Picturing the Cosmos: Hubble Space Telescope Images and the Astronomical Sublime. Minnesota: Univ Of Minnesota, 2012. Print. http://www.amazon.com/Picturing-Cosmos-Telescope-Astronomical-Sublime/dp/0816679576