Space

Photography and astronomy offer humanity a fascinating view into the universe.

This is What Comet NEOWISE Looks Like from the ISS

As photographers across the world are trying their hands at shooting Comet NEOWISE before it's gone for the next 6,000 years, astronauts onboard the ISS have a nice view of the comet that isn't obscured by Earth's atmosphere. Here's a 7-minute real-time video showing what NEOWISE looks like from about 254 miles above our planet's surface.

10 Astrophotography Ideas You Can Do From Your Backyard

With many of us stuck in lockdown, quarantine, and self-isolation, I thought I’d share 10 ideas for astrophotography that you can do from home, even if you live in a light-polluted town or city. If there’s one thing that this pandemic has taught us, it’s that we’re all in this together and astrophotography and astronomy only help to solidify that sense of unification.

These are the Highest Resolution Images Ever Taken of the Sun’s Surface

The National Solar Observatory has just released the highest resolution images and video ever taken of the sun's surface. The images, captured with the National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, capture the sun in unprecedented detail, revealing features as small as 18 miles (30km) in size for the first time ever.

Testing the Canon EOS Ra: Why It’s Worth it for Astrophotographers

Trevor Jones of AstroBackyard recently got his hands on a niche camera that will be extremely interesting to astrophotographers... and just about nobody else: the Canon EOS Ra. In the video above, he takes it out for a test shoot to show off the two features that set this camera apart when it comes to serious night sky shooting.

Photographer Shares the Story Behind this Incredible Astrolandscape Photo

Two days ago, photographer Paul Schmit captured what he's calling "the most difficult and technical astrolandscape shot I've ever planned and executed." It's an incredible shot, showing the ISS transiting the sunrise in front of some picturesque radio towers atop a mountain peak. This photo was weeks in the making, but Schmit tells PetaPixel he almost missed it.

How to Enhance the Starry Night Sky in Photoshop

Let's say I would like to enhance the stars in this Milky Way landscape photo. I could load the image into Camera Raw and add some Clarity at the risk of adding noise and artifacts to the night sky. Another way of doing it could be to use “Select Color Range” combined with a curves or levels adjustment. However, I often find that these methods don't yield satisfactory results.

These Useful Charts Help You Avoid the Crowds at US National Parks

Designer and engineer Jordan Vincent has created a set of data visualizations (read: creative infographics) that landscape photographers might find invaluable. Using visitor data from all of the most popular US National Parks, he was able to plot attendance by type of lodging, time of year, and average temperature.

Shooting the Milky Way on Vacation in Tuscany

Arlington, Texas, was long in the lead to become my family's vacation destination this summer. But sometime in May, we decided that we wanted to revisit Italy. Last time we didn’t make it to Tuscany, so there was no doubt that it would be the area to stay and explore.