Article Summary #11

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/making-space-photo/
The Making of a Mind-Blowing Space Photo
Alexis Madrigal
One night in 2007 Rogelio Bernal Andreo and his wife were driving along the highway in California. When Ms. Andreo opened the moon-roof they saw a sight that they have never seen before. They saw a night’s sky that looked like the Milky Way was right on top of them. They pulled over and tried to capture the breath taking scene with their digital camera. When they got home, they downloaded the pictures onto their computer and from then on, have been obsessed with capturing pictures of the night’s sky. Digital cameras however are not nearly sensitive enough to capture the images that take peoples breath away. There is a science behind the capturing of these pictures and Andreo was determined to master it.
After two years and $10,000, Andreo has finally managed to come up with pictures that are truly amazing. I’m sure we have all seen those pictures with amazing clarity and detail, well those pictures not just simple snapshot of the sky. There are many steps that go into taking photos like these. According to Andreo, picking a good spot without any light pollution from the cities is the first step. Andreo, goes to the mountains of Northern California because of its high elevation and its level of darkness at night. After the location is set, Andreo takes a series of 11 pictures. Once all 11 pictures are taken, he then stacks them on top of each other to create the final image. Each one of these 11 pictures taken, has something unique about it. Andreo has different colored lenses that he used to make sure he captures images from all angles and wavelengths. The final product is a truly breathtaking picture that has amazing color and clarity. The picture is seen at the top of this article.