Astrophotography for Astrophotographers

Image of the Day

The Site ...

Art de Ciel.com is a website dedicated to Astrophotography for Astrophotographers and by Astrophotographers.

The name of the site literally means - ‘Sky Art’, i.e. the photographic images of astronomical objects in the Sky - the many millions of star clusters, gaseous nebulae and galaxies that can be found in the depths of space, as well as those closer to home like the sun, moon and planets. 

The magnificent images you will see in the pages of our website are real objects, they do exist and if man had the technology he would be able to travel the many millions of kilometres necessary to see them close up. Until that happens we have to be content with the images we obtain from our own backyard or from unmanned space probes. 

Backyard is an appropriate word, because that is exactly where many of the images you see were obtained. All the images on this website were taken NOT by professional astronomers using the world's largest telescopes in remote location far away from city lights, but by amateurs using modest equipment costing a few thousand dollars, often located in their own gardens in the suburbs, or transported to a dark site nearby.

It is remarkable that all this has become possible in the last 10 years or so with the introduction of the availability of high quality low cost telescopes, the invention of the digital camera and rapid advances in computer software which not only process the images but can be also used to point the telescope with great precision at any object in space and then to control the camera to take images of it.

M17 - Swan Nebula

Sagittarius

Eddie Trimarchi

Image of the Past

The Content ...

NGC 7293 - 'Helix' Nebula

Aquarius

Rudolf Minkowski

1952

Astrophotography Books

The 'Portal' ...

The Astrophotography website ArtdeCiel.com was created for three reasons. 

Firstly, to provide the astronomical imaging community the definitive ‘portal’ for their works; somewhere to gain inspiration and information on new imaging targets; a site where they can share ideas, get answers to questions and solutions to problems.

And secondly, to make everyone aware of the magnificent images that are being produced by countless ‘backyard’ astronomers depicting what it is after all the greatest work of art ever created – the universe in which we live. 

The images you see in the pages of this site are Works of Art. As with any art, whether it is a painting, a sculpture, or photograph - the key to success is the Artist themselves. Anyone can be given the tools, but it is what they do with them that is important. 

To help you, ArtdeCiel.com contains or has links to the many useful guidelines, manuals, reference works and articles to how these images are produced, as well as books, websites and magazines where the necessary information on the techniques, methods and equipment can be found.

And last but not least to tell of my passion for the History of Astrophotography through the books I have written on this fascinating subject. 

The website also contains a 'Historical' section which provides much information on the development of astronomical photography, the early pioneers who made it possible, their images, the techniques they adopted and the telescopes and cameras they used.

'Catchers of the Light'

A History of Astrophotography

Printed or eBook

University of Cambridge; Paris Observatory,Huntington Library; Royal Observatory Scotland; Museum of Scotland & New York Metropolitan Museum of Art