Allen is an amateur astronomer, an IT professional, a podcaster, a father of five growing kids, a barely competent chess player, and the owner and publisher of the Urban Astronomer podcast and website. He has formerly served as Director of the Astrophotography and Citizen Science sections of the Astronomical Society of South Africa. You can find his personal social media feed on Mastodon!
Well it took long enough but Winter finally started. Here where I live, the evenings are finally cold, the air is finally clear, and the stars are back out in their finest, brightest glory. It’s a fantastic time to observe, so here’s a quick rundown on what you can see: The month starts with the Moon. It passes close by Saturn on the 1st, one day before Full Moon on the 2nd. At this phase, the Moon is so bright … Continue reading →
I have just completed processing my third image of the famous southern radio galaxy Centaurus A. Each time I go back to this object, I get better results, even though I’m using the exact same equipment each time. It just goes to prove that it’s not the equipment that makes the shot, but the photographer. Just to labour the point, here are all three of my images (so far) of Centaurus A, along with notes of how I captured each … Continue reading →
It’s a new month and here in the Southern Hemisphere we’re starting to enter into winter when the stargazing is at its best. Cold dry air, with the best the southern skies have to offer all neatly presented, capped off with a nice selection of planets throughout the night makes for what should be an excellent month.I say “should be” because the weather doesn’t seem to realise what’s expected of it. My home town’s rainy season should have stopped months … Continue reading →
One of my favourite tools for astrophotography is the Canon EF 50mm F/1.8 lens which I use for wide field deep sky images. It’s the single cheapest lens on the market, as evidenced by its all-plastic construction and the scratchy grinding noise made by its autofocus motor. But it’s also fast, small and light, and it performs way above its price range. It’s the perfect accessory for an astronomer on a budget, like me. Unfortunately, kids and photography gear don’t … Continue reading →
Welcome to the 400th Carnival of Space! We’re running a day late, thanks to the Easter Weekend, but there’s a bumper crop of astronomy and space science news and articles to make up for it, so let’s dive straight in.First up, from the grand-daddy of astronomy news, Universe Today with some space imagery of the typhoon Maysak. Photographer Terry Virts, from his temporary home on board the International Space Station reports that from up there the eye of the super-typhoon … Continue reading →
