10 Astounding Astrophotos by Phil Hart
This post is by regular contributer Neil Creek – author of our Photogaphy 101 series, which Neil plans to return to soon. Visit Neils blog which is all about learning photography, and check out his prints for sale on the Fine Art Photo Blog.
The universe is stunningly beautiful.
Orion Mosaic © Phil Hart
Phil Hart is an Australian amateur astronomer and astrophotographer. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing him for many years, and in that time I have watched his skill at photographing the night sky grow in leaps and bounds. He has been published several times in a number of major international astronomy magazines, and his photos are some of the best examples of astrophotography I have seen. Using only relatively simple and inexpensive equipment, he combines his skill with the camera and with processing software to create breath-taking images of nebulae, star clusters, aurorae and other heavenly bodies.
I have assembled a collection of my favourite of his works here for your enjoyment. I hope these photos inspire the same wonder at the universe and respect for Phil’s skills as they do for me. If you like Phil’s work, please consider purchasing a print of one of the available photos. A link is provided to a print where it is available. To view the images at larger sizes, click on them and you will be taken to Phil’s gallery.
Pleiades Star Cluster © Phil Hart
Print Available
Star Trail © Phil Hart
Eta Carinae Nebula © Phil Hart
Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae © Phil Hart
Rosette Nebula © Phil Hart
Rho Ophiuchi & Antares © Phil Hart
A word from Phil about the technical details of the photos: “Most of these images were taken with Canon Digital SLRs specifically modifed for astrophotography. A Takahashi 530mm focal length telescope has also been used for most of these ‘deep sky’ shots while standard wide angle lenses were used for the Aurora Borealis over Iceland and the Star Trail image.”
For forther information, please see the following links:
Links
- Phil discusses a variety of topics on his blog, including photography, astronomy, peak oil and politics
- Phil’s prints for sale on RedBubble
- My own astrophotography ;)
Read more from Neil on his blog, including projects, tutorials and lots of photos. You can also connect with Neil on Twitter, where he is happy to answer photography and other questions.
40 Responses to “10 Astounding Astrophotos by Phil Hart” - Add Yours
November 21st, 2008 at 3:33 am
wow awesome work!
November 21st, 2008 at 3:52 am
Excellent images. We have a friend here in the states who has been doing Astrophotography for about a year now. You should check him out at http://flintstonestargazing.com/
November 21st, 2008 at 4:04 am
thank you Phil for showing us something we may never view for ourselves
November 21st, 2008 at 4:13 am
“Phil Hart is an Australian amateur astronomer and astrophotographer” ???????
Phil Hart does not look like an “amateur” anything to me!! Those shots are AMAZING!!!
I have always loved astophotography, unfortunately I dont quite have the gear to take those kinds of shots…. maybe some day!
November 21st, 2008 at 5:07 am
WOW
November 21st, 2008 at 5:34 am
After seeing these amazing photos I immediately went to look up 530mm telescopes.
“Using only relatively simple and inexpensive equipment”
“Realtively” is the key word here! $11,000! I guess it’s not in my immediate future :{
Too bad too, these pics are Cool!
November 21st, 2008 at 6:11 am
These are amazing, I’d love to just be able to take the moon!
November 21st, 2008 at 6:19 am
Absolutly amazing!! you really feel you are in the midst of it all,& so calming!! Great work,congratulations!!
November 21st, 2008 at 6:48 am
amazing photos! well done
November 21st, 2008 at 6:54 am
Awesome Photos!
November 21st, 2008 at 7:34 am
that is some amazing photos. I really like the five moons, maybe it’s the colours. I think many youth could be inspired by shots like these to follow their passions.
November 21st, 2008 at 8:10 am
Wow. These look like they’re straight from the Hubble, not off of a DSLR! Spectacular!
November 21st, 2008 at 9:41 am
Perhaps I should qualify the term ‘relatively inexpensive’! :-)
Three of the photos were taken with a standard Canon 20D and affordable lenses – Comet McNaught and Aurora with the standard kit lens and the Star Trail with a 10-22mm EF-S lens. I also have many other great shots with a 50mm f1.4 lens. The 200mm f2.8 lens used for the last image is more expensive but awesome for astrophotography and daytime work.
The telescope I purchased while working the UK at a discount price, but the combination yields results that were not available at all to amateurs only a decade or so ago. Much more affordable equipment can achieve pretty similar results.. eg Borg line of equipment at http://www.sciencecenter.net/hutech/
Phil
November 21st, 2008 at 10:52 am
Thank you so much for posting this article – I’m putting the ‘Five Moons’ photograph on my Christmas wish list. Beautiful!
November 21st, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Wonderful,
My husband 3 years back did some great astrophotography with an eight inch telescope with autotracer, a automoble battery charger for his laptop and a coolpix 995. It was great fun and totally portable, before you could be. He even bought the scope used. The pictures really surpised people, many off them were film or did not like computer use. He was involed with the Black River Club in Ohio & some guys from Oberlin College.
November 21st, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Phenomenal. Stunning visuals and a talent that should be cherished.
November 21st, 2008 at 3:10 pm
The first one reminds me of stars mixed with muscles… like human hearts. (Ok, I watch too many crime shows, yes.) But it’s pretty!
I think my favorite is the aurora.
November 21st, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Thank you for the wonderful shots. Those are simply amazing. The Pleiades Star Cluster photo is incredible.
November 21st, 2008 at 3:43 pm
was just passin’ through and suddenly filled with wonder–nice end to my night, thanks
November 21st, 2008 at 9:19 pm
What a magic colllection. I did forget everything for a while after seeing these all. Thanks dear for posting such wonderful magical photos.
November 21st, 2008 at 11:58 pm
OMG these are amazing!
November 22nd, 2008 at 12:57 am
Some of the most amazing photos I have ever seen!
November 22nd, 2008 at 1:29 am
Absolutely amazing images! More people need to see these as it might help to grow astronomy’s popularity among the general public. These views help to put a perspective on our place in the universe. Thanks!
Anthony
November 22nd, 2008 at 2:49 am
Phil, that’s incredible. As a fellow 20D owner, I’m astounded by the quality the lenses are giving you – will have to try something similar one day. ;)
Thanks for sharing these with us.
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:14 am
Phil,
These are all spectacular images. I will try and capture some meteor showers again this year. Last year, where ever the camera was pointed, the meteors weren’t showing up.
Pete
http://www.petelanglois.net
November 22nd, 2008 at 4:04 am
Every time I see photos like these, and these are some of the best ever, I kick myself for not pursuing a career in astronomy. Forty years ago I chose electrical engineering and my career was excellent. But astronomy might have been even better. Thanks for these amazing photos.
November 22nd, 2008 at 9:19 am
I would like to do some astrophotography in the future and would like to learn from some of the bestin the field. Does Phil Hart have any books that offer his photo or astrophotography techniques? Does he use stacking software and if so what would he suggest for the beginner?
November 22nd, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Nothing makes you feel small, in a good way, like gazing into space.
November 22nd, 2008 at 11:28 pm
amazing photo thanks
November 23rd, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I went to look at the star trail photo and the additional information and it indicated a F stop of 3.5 and shutterspeed of 30 seconds, at ISO1600. Are these correct??!
I would have assumed it would have taken much longer than that to achieve the amount of trail light?? I have a 20D as well and had been wanting to try capturing star trails, but haven’t been very successful – must be in the wrong spot!! I need a night sky with more stars!
November 23rd, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Oh… never mind. I only saw the 2nd post on DPS about how to use stacking to create the images. :)
December 1st, 2008 at 6:13 am
Filled with awe when struck by these visuals. Feeling small in front of this. Of the best that I have seen and very good quality
December 2nd, 2008 at 10:15 am
like the universe, creativity is limitless
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:51 pm
amazing angles on the vastness of our reality. they look so close to eachother, but everything is relative. like einstein said.
February 3rd, 2009 at 1:58 pm
OMG!!!! these pictures just left me… speechless!!!!!!!!!!
August 25th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
I have a Canon 350D and have purchased the attachement to connect it to my 6″ newtonian. But I have not been able to get any images. I have tried some astronomy books but nothing tells you how to set up the gear in the first place.
Any help to begin this fascinating journey would be joyfully received
August 26th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Great Photo’s very insperational.
Any chance you could write a quick “how to” using camera, tripod & kit lens.
I’ve tried a couple of times but never seem to get ISO, apeture or shutter speed to work together to give any sort of half decent image.
I live in South West Australia, and we have propbably the best night skys in the world. Looking up at the night sky beats watching TV.
Hugh (D60 user in training)
August 26th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
The solar eclipse last month was a great chance and I managed to take these pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/focx/sets/72157621734845365/
August 27th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
WOW Thanks!
October 21st, 2009 at 4:46 pm
very creative shots!
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