Astronomer photographer Image: Bubble Nebula

Terry Hancock captured this cropped image of the Bubble Nebula, or NGC 7635, from Down Under Observatory in Fremont, Mich. on the nights of Aug. 15, 16 and 18.

Credit: Terry Hancock

Humid, summer weather didn't burst one veteran astrophotographer's cosmic bubble when he spent three nights capturing this beautiful image of NGC 7635, also known as the Bubble Nebula.

Space photographer Terry Hancock took the photo from Down Under Observatory in Fremont, Mich. after 11 hours of exposure time on the nights of Aug. 15, 16 and 18.

"While the skies were clear the seeing conditions were quite poor due to high humidity," Hancock reported

Approximately 6 light-years wide, NGC 7635 is located roughly 7,100 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia.

A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, or about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion kilometers).

Intense radiation and stellar winds from a nearby star created this delicate-looking bubble, which shines pink because of surrounding red, hot gas.

Arizona's Antelope Canyon: Gregory Boratyn

These are stunning images of Arizona's Antelope Canyon by photographer Gregory Boratyn, highlighting the flowing ridges and varying surfaces with clever use of photo software.

Stargazer Captures Striking Nebula View

Bill Snyder captured Sh2-112 Sharpless on July 29, 2012 from his home observatory in Connellsville, Pa.

He used a TMB130mm telescope equipped with an Apogee U8300 camera, as well as an Atlas EQG mount and several filters to view SH2-112.

The total exposure time to capture this image was more than 18 hours.

CREDIT: Bill Snyder, Astrophotography

Night Sky Over Hungary's Historic Windmill

The crescent moon appears near Venus, Jupiter and the constellation Taurus. 

Astrophotographer Tamas Ladanyi took this image July 16, 2012 from Tés, a village in Veszprém, a county of Hungary, famous for its beautiful windmills.

CREDIT: Ladanyi Tamas / TWAN

Cone and Fox Fur Nebulas Glow Together - Image

Astrophotography duo Bob and Janice Fera snapped this photo of the Cone and Foxfur nebulas, which are part of a larger system called NGC 2264 located in the Monoceros constellation about 2,600 light-years away from Earth.

CREDIT: Bob and Janice Fera at Fera Photography

Cone Nebula

High Speed Image of Coloured salt - Fabian Oefner

Photographer Fabian Oefner has used coloured grains of salt and sent them into the air using different songs. 

He placed the salt on thin plastic foil stretched over a loudspeaker.

When the speakers are turned on it sends the salt into the air and he is able to capture the moment using a high speed flash.

He says: "Depending on the frequency of the sonic wave, different sculptures are created, from gentle and spaced sculptures to high pitch volcano-eruption-like figures."

Picture: FABIAN OEFNER / CATERS NEWS

Aurora Borealis over Iceland Ice Floes

The Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights are photographed over ice floes in Iceland by amateur photographer Martin Zalba

Picture: Martin Zalba / Barcroft Media

Our Solar System in a drop of water - Markus Reugels

The Earth in a drop of Water


Our Moon capture in a drop of water


The gas giant Jupiter showing the Great Red Spot


The magic behind the camera is exposed in this shot of the photographer's rig.

These liquid planets have been captured by German photographer Markus Reugels.

Using large satellite photos as a backdrop and a high speed camera he has captured the background’s refraction through water drops.

You can see much more of his work here and also here.

MIT Camera Snaps at the speed of light

MIT Media Lab researchers have created a new imaging system that can acquire visual data at a rate of one trillion frames per second. That's fast enough to produce a slow-motion video of light traveling through objects. Video: Melanie Gonick.

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology report they have developed a camera that can capture the speed of light in fractions of seconds.

The researchers from MIT's Media Labs suggest the new technology and imaging techniques could prove to be highly beneficial, maybe 10 years down the line, in hospitals and testing centers, as a hand-held medical scanner.

The imaging system can acquire visual data and capture images at a rate of 1 trillion frames per second and also produce a slow-motion video of light travelling through an object.

"Watching this it looks like light in slow motion. It is so slow you can see the light itself move across the distance," said Ramesh Raskar, an Associate Professor of Media Arts at the Media Lab.

SEA Photography: Visual Poetry

From photographer Mark Laita, whose superb “parallel portraits” of subcultures you might recall, comes Sea — a masterful piece of visual poetry.

It captures the creatures of the deep with equal parts cutting-edge photographic technique and imaginative whimsy, to explore the extraordinary wonderland that lives beneath the surface of the world’s water.

From iridescent jellyfish to playful sea horses to prepossessing but deadly puffer fish, the 104 images in the collection reveal the astounding grace, colours, and personalities of these marine characters with unprecedented artistry and passion.

North Pacific Giant Octopus

Blue Blubber Jellyfish

Golden Butterfly

Green Chromis

Humpback Anglerfish

Red Feather Starfish

Blue Spot Stingray

Miniatus Grouper

Full review, along with more images, here.

Skywatcher: Stunning Image of Aurora Borealis

Skywatcher Kwon, O Chul of The World At Night (TWAN), shot this image of the Northern Lights at Yellowknife in northern Canada.

CREDIT: (c)Kwon O Chul / TWAN

It took a collision of charged particles from Earth’s magnetosphere and one veteran landscape astrophotographer from Seoul, Korea to deliver this green spectacle.

Skywatcher Kwon, O Chul of The World At Night (TWAN), traveled to Yellowknife in northern Canada with a Canon 5d mark II + 24mm lens to capture this image of the Northern Lights.

The northern and southern lights — also known as the aurora — are mostly witnessed in polar latitudes. A clash of charged particles from Earth's magnetosphere with atoms and molecules of Earth's atmosphere (at altitudes above 50 miles, or 80 km) cause these lights. Solar wind from the sun carries these particles to Earth.

Kwon often uses several medium-format and panorama-format film cameras in his exhibitions. The skywatcher “looks for the harmony between celestial motion and star trails, ancient relics, and Korean beautiful landscapes,” according to the TWAN website. 

Astrophotographer: Captures Colossal Pinwheel Galaxy

The Pinwheel Galaxy (also known as Messier 101 or NGC 5457) is estimated to contain at least one trillion stars, about 100 billion of them could be similar to our sun.

CREDIT: Thierry Legault

Equipped with an arsenal of telescopes and cameras, a French skywatching enthusiast had to venture beyond his suburban home in the so-called City of Lights to capture a brilliant deep-sky image of the Pinwheel Galaxy.

"I live in the suburbs of Paris, in a site that is very polluted by city lights," amateur astronomer Thierry Legault wrote on his website.

"From my backyard, I can take images of the sun, the moon, planets and nebulas with narrow band filters.

For deep sky imaging (galaxies, comets, nebulas...), I am obliged to go in the land, after loading my van."

The talented astrophotographer, who has become known for his eye-catching images, works as an engineer by day.

The Pinwheel Galaxy, which is also known as Messier 101 or NGC 5457, is a spiral galaxy 21 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major.

The galaxy was first discovered by Pierre Méchain on March 27, 1781. Charles Messier confirmed its position and it was included in the astronomer's famous Messier Catalogue as one of the final entries.

Bazaruto Island, St Antonio Island and Magaruque Island

This image taken by astronaut Clayton Anderson aboard the International Space Station shows the beauty of Bazaruto Island, St Antonio Island and Magaruque Island in the Mozambique Channel

Picture: AP/NASA - Clayton C. Anderson

The Moon: Crater Petavius

The Moon’s Crater Petavius seen to the lower right of the photograph is almost 200 kilometres wide and over three kilometres deep, with a central peak reaching nearly two kilometres from the crater floor.

The Moon’s many craters have been formed by meteorites, asteroids and comets which have crashed into the lunar surface over billions of years.

Picture: George Tarsoudis

Astronomy Photographer of 2011

Amateur astronomer Damian Peach has become the first British entrant to win the title of Astronomy Photographer of the Year, beating hundreds of photographers from around the globe in the 2011 competition.

As well as securing the £1,500 top prize, his image takes pride of place in the exhibition of winning photographs opening at the Royal Observatory Greenwich on 9 September 2011.

"Milky Way above the Himalayas" by Anton Jankovoy

Nepal, Milky Way above the Himalayas (Mardi Khola valley), 2011

"Milky Way above the Himalayas" by Anton Jankovoy

The Milky Way from Southern hemisphere

A view of the Milky Way from the southern tip of Australia. Amateur photographer Alex Cherney captures the night sky using just an ordinary digital camera.

Alex has taken beautiful images of the night sky from the Mornington peninsula on the southern coast of Australia. He takes advantage of the lack of light pollution to capture detailed pictures of the cosmos using very long exposures.

Picture: Alex Cherney/BNPS

Randy Halverson: pictures of the Milky Way

Sub Zero - winter night timelapse from Randy Halverson on Vimeo.

Photographer Randy Halverson captures the rural heartland of the American Mid-West against the backdrop of the Milky Way.

The 43-year-old took most of these pictures from the fields of his farm in Kennebec, South Dakota where three generations of his family have lived.

"My favourite picture is the one where the Milky Way rose right behind the house," said Randy

Picture: Randy Halverson / BARCROFT MEDIA

See more at his website: DakotaLapse.com

The Smoothee - Steadicam for mobile phones

It's interesting to note how far the video quality of mobile phones and pocket camcorders has progressed over the past few years.

Features such as their resolution are greatly improved but they do have one disadvantage when compared to their larger, heavier predecessors – they shake like crazy.

But have no fear, this is a shortcoming that's addressed by the Steadicam Smoothee.  

The Steadicam Smothee has been developed by Tiffen the original designer and manufacturer of the professional Steadicam that we all know and love.

Professional videographers tend to have steadier handheld footage than casual shooters mainly because they're using wider lenses and shoulder mounts, but also simply because the extra weight of their larger cameras has a way of "flattening out" the jiggles.

A featherweight mobile phone held in an unsupported extended hand, however, tends to show up every little breath, heartbeat or nervous tic of its user.

Like Steadicam's existing rigs for movie and television cameras, the Smoothee uses counterweights to live up to its name. The phone/camcorder mounts on top, in a quick-release bracket, while the weights are located on a curved metal arm that extends underneath.

The user holds the contraption by a pistol-style grip, that is joined to the mounting platform via a freely-moving gimbal connection.

Watch a series of Steadicam videos to see the Smoothee in action

Tiger Shark snatches underwater camera from diver's hands

Karin Brussaard recalls "There were about six or seven tiger sharks down there and we couldn't believe our luck. We were having a great time photographing them all until one diver swam towards one of them trying to get a better shot.

The shark suddenly seemed to get angry and snatched the camera right out of his hands."

Tiger sharks are considered to be one of the most dangerous shark species in the world and are responsible for many recorded attacks on humans, second only to the great white shark.

These remarkable pictures show the moment a tiger shark snatched an expensive camera from the hands of a petrified photographer during an underwater diving expedition in the Bahamas.

After photographer Karin Brussaard took several photos, the shark decided enough was enough and grabbed the equipment in its jaws before swimming off

Brussaard, from the Netherlands, said: "Luckily it did drop it eventually and remarkably the camera only seemed to have a couple of scratches on it"