the Sun sets behind Cerro Paranal in the
Chilean Atacama Desert while astronomers
get ready to observe with easels Very
Large Telescope nature prepares for own
grand display as night falls over the
desert the southern sky reveals its
nocturnal beauty leaving the spectator
in silent amazement some people however
don't just stay at the spectacle with
great skill they record these unique
moments for everyone to see
they are the photographer's of the night
this is the esocast cutting-edge science
and life behind the scenes of ESO the
European Southern Observatory exploring
the ultimate frontier with our host dr.
J aka dr. Joe Liske ax
anyone who has been up at night in a
remote high places such as one of these
observatories in Chile may have been
lucky enough to experience the splendid
view of the myriad of stars shining
brightly from the heavens
it is both a dream and a challenge for
photographer to capture an image of this
incredible view today we'll focus on 30
staff members who during their free time
produce outstanding astrophotography by
publishing the results on the internet
they shared enthusiasm for the
astonishing wonders of the southern
skies with a wider audience
Uribe let's key is an easy fellow and
astronomer at the Paranal Observatory
we're not observing with the world's
most advanced telescope VLT he actively
lives out his passion for taking
pictures of the southern sky
I like the night sky like stars and the
night sky is so beautiful you can
simulate the stars and the
astrophotography is the best way to show
the people or what what actually starts
are so taking this picture I'm share my
passions the people and I'm showing this
kind of him
over time he has produced many
spectacular images of parallel against
the wonderful backdrop of the night sky
a laser beam shooting out of one of the
VLTs unit telescopes
ok
the bright constellation of the southern
cross
the pipe nebula with its picturesque
dust Lane crossing the Milky Way
sunlight reflected by small particles of
dust lying in between the planets causes
the faint is a diagonal light
my plans I would like to take more
images i like to share my patient with
be with other people i would like to
show them the real beauty of the night
sky and to show them the real beauty of
the nature of chili and the earth
parallel is an ideal site for
astrophotographers as it offers
crystal-clear extremely dark skies with
perfect weather conditions on about 320
nights per year get to deport an
electronic engineer parallel knows about
the photographic benefits of the VLTs
site Gerhardt who is also renowned
photographer chilis landscape combines
the beauty of the Atacama Desert with
the shining Milky Way in a unique way
my favorite type of photography is
landscape and in particular landscape at
night showing the Milky Way the night
sky year of the Atacama Desert
again powering out then i have the
possibility to have the telescope's as a
nice foreground and the the stars in the
night sky as background
the bright plane of our Milky Way as it
arches above the VLT an image like this
can only be obtained on the top-notch
stargazing conditions such as those
offered parallel
like Yuri Gerhard has also produced a
spectacular series of images showing the
beauty with its laser beam and the night
sky
I'm always trying to show paranoia from
new fresh point of view different angles
different times of the day so I'm always
thinking about new ideas that is my plan
for the future
astrophotography is very demanding the
photographer has to stay out in the dark
and in the two of the night for many
hours sometimes it can take several
nights of painstaking work in these
tough conditions to obtain just one
image and the equipment must always
functioned flawlessly Stefan bizarre is
the head of the optical group of
parallel his astrophotography benefits
from his professional expertise as an
optical engineer specialising in
telescopes Stefan's images have been
used in several projects for the
international year of astronomy as well
as in previous easel casts
I take pictures of galaxies and nebulae
with the telescope but the i also like
to take a whitefield images of the sky
with the chemistry all
foreground
I like to share with people the beauty
of the sky and the universe
this photographic mosaic of the central
parts of our galactic home is just one
example of Stefan's work
taken with an amateur telescope coupled
to a ccd camera the image combines about
1200 photos for a total exposure time of
around 250 hours
Stefan has also produced a spectacular
series of time-lapse sequences at the
parallel site producing such sequences
is quite a challenge as the images must
be taken at regular intervals and all
the parameters must match perfectly to
obtain the sensation of the moving
firmament
I want to continue imaging the galaxy
and objects that I've not done yet
understand i'm trying to widen my my
field by doing 3d pictures 3d night
timelapse movie and also became mosaic
images of the sky
there's no doubt that Yuri Gerhard and
Stefan will continue to produce stunning
images of the starry skies above Power
Nell the wonderful quality of the images
is a testament to the splendor of the
night sky at esos Paranal observatory by
sharing their work these three
astrophotographers have brought the
magnificent view of the southern sky to
a wider audience
this is dr j signing off for the esocast
join me again next time for another
cosmic adventure
history but the only person on it
doesn't have TV coverage of the things
and then they got the black up now
you're gonna be the TV picture now epic
failure we are getting a
Victor Kilian out one all
part