Starship Asterisk*

Magnitude 2.05 Mirach (Beta Andromedae) sits almost equidistant from the Andromeda Galaxy, M31 and the Triangulum Galaxy M33. Two of the local group of galaxies, M31 and M33 can be found easily at this time of year rising in the east after sunset. I feel that this image gives a unique perspective on...

From Starfest, Canada's largest annual starparty and amateur astronomy conference, this is a composite of the Perseid meteor shower showing just the brightest meteors. An 8mm lens was used on a full frame DSLR camera. Images captured overnight Aug 12-13 from a dark sky location 2 hours north west of...

A beautiful conjunction of moon, planets, stars and a comet tonight, visible in the southern hemisphere after sunset. In this shot we have Venus at top, with the moon immediately below. Regulus to their right, and Jupiter below them. Further below is comet c/2014 Q1 Panstarrs. This scene was shot fr...

Observing SPACE from the Atacama desert, these observatories under the Milky Way of the southern skies contain contain many amateur telescopes.
The benefit of locating here is clear!
This image was captured on July 17th, 2015

There was a stunning display of the solar system at it's best last night. Venus and Jupiter continue to shine brightly together, along with Regulus after sunset, but not only did a crescent moon make a guest appearance at 7% illumination (with beautiful earthshine) but comet c/2014 q1 Panstarrs was ...

Last night (July 5 after midnight) thanks to a mild solar wind stream buffeting the Earth's magnetic field, the Northern Lights were visible at Bon Echo Provincial Park, in Ontario. Far from any city lights, the aurora shone through despite the best efforts of the moon to spoil the view. Reflecting ...

With a 98% Moon and a late twilight the sky was slightly washed out but nevertheless Mercury put on quite a show this evening. An easy naked eye target, Mercury shone brilliantly below a very bright Venus and Jupiter. The foreground is illuminated by the rising moon.

Malcolm Park
www.photopark.ca

In this early spring nightscape image, the northern hemisphere's "Summer" Milky Way rises just before dawn over a lake still frozen after a long winter, the constellations of Sagittarius and Scorpius shining brightly on the horizon. This image also is showing Nova Sagittarii 2015 No. 2 (cr...

Following Spaceweather forecasts, and with Twitter contacts keeping each other posted on conditions around the province, we were lucky enough to see the aurora tonight. Fortunately it was active after sunset, and we had a nice show before clouds rolled in. Even at 44 degrees south latitude the auror...

On December 13th and 14th the annual Geminid Meteor shower peaked.
There was a last quarter moon rising at 11:30pm so plenty of time to observe meteors.
Here's one of them, with Gemini upper right.
Malcolm Park

Orion rising in the Southern Hemisphere day to night timelapse transition. Please select 1080p HD Plenty to see in this timelapse. Trucks descend the mountain pass just after dark, then head the other way pre-dawn. Some interesting clouds, and then you see Orion rise inverted from a northern perspec...

In the Southern Hemisphere in the Chilean Atacama desert, the Milky Way is revealed in all its wonder in pristine skies. In October, the Milky Way seems to roll onto its back in the western sky as it sets throughout the night. In this nightscape composite image of 12 frames shot in portrait orientat...

Lunar Eclipse, Oct 8 2014 with Uranus
Image captured at Lake Carlos State Park, near Alexandria Minnesota.
Malcolm Park

October 8th, 2014. Patchy cloud comes and goes throughout the night. But by morning, it has cleared away. This is my view of the Total Lunar Eclipse, looking south from Lake Carlos State Park, Alexandria Minnesota. The composite multi-frame panorama was captured at around 5:30am CST this morning in ...

In this scene from Algonquin Park in North-central Ontario Canada, an annual star party organized by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada called the Algonquin Adventure is taking place. http://rascto.ca/content/2014-annual-algonquin-adventure The approximately 200 degree panorama displays the ho...

Here is a Youtube video I created from stills and timelapses that I captured in the Atacama Desert, near San Pedro de Atacama.
The opening sequence shows the Milky Way in LRGB and Ha. Please select HD!
Malcolm Park

OH MY GOD ITS FULL OF STARS!

Sagittarius and Scorpius at the heart of the Milky Way

try not to get lost in there...

Nikon D800, stacked images in CCDStack, further processed in Adobe Lightroom5 and Photoshop CC

Malcolm Park

The Milky Way imaged from the crystal clear night skies of the Atacama Desert, just outside of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile in July '14. The dark lanes of the Prancing Horse were the object of my attention in this deep image of our own galaxy. Also in the field of view are the Lagoon and Trifid nebul...

Attached is a stacked DSLR image of the Southern Cross (Crux), The Coal Sack, and The Running Chicken (IC2944)
Image captured July 24th.
6 x 5 minutes Nikon D800

Malcolm Park

maybe thats a benefit at longer focal lengths, but theres not much difference with an 8mm fisheye which is what this looks like

There is also the implication that this image was shot last night but based on the location of Venus my guess is it was shot in April.

MP

A shot from the Atacama Desert on July 23rd, just after the end of Astronomic Dusk with the Zodiacal Light shining up at the heart of the milky way galaxy.


cheers,
Malcolm Park

In March 2014, ESO announced the discovery of rings around the asteroid Charilko. The telescope photographed here is R. Sandness's Atacama Desert Observatory at San Pedro de Atacama Celestial Explorations (IAU observatory designation W97) which participated in the project (section 5 of this announce...