A Celestial Réunion

From NewsWatch on National Geographic:

"This slideshow of 35 pictures is the result of 18 months of night shooting realized on Réunion Island. These images show the diversity of landscapes of Réunion under the starry sky. Most of these pictures were done in the area of the Piton de la Fournaise, volcano area free from light pollution. The night sky is a unique show and this slideshow is here to attest: stunning Milky Way, planetary conjunctions, lunar eclipse, meteor, star trail, moonlight landscape. Each image is built so that the spectators feel the immensity of the universe and realize the fragility of their condition. Astronomy is a great science because it opens the gates of dreams. One of the targets of this slideshow is to carry you in this dreamlike universe and no doubt that the "Moonlight Sonata" by Beethoven will guide you. These 35 pictures of astro-photographic landscapes are currently the subject of an exhibition in the city of Saint-Denis in Réunion Island. They will be on display until 29 October 2011."

Links are mine.

Réunion Céleste from Luc Perrot on Vimeo.

Night sky wonders

These two photos taken on Reunion Island by Luc Perrot have just won prizes at this year's Earth and Sky Photo Contest, put on by The World At Night, an international organisation dedicated to night-sky photography.

The first photo won third place in the Beauty of the Night Sky category. The Milky Way arcs above the Piton de la Fournaise, Réunion's active volcano; in the background you can see the Southern Cross on the upper right, and the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds on the lower right.

"Beauty of Southern Sky"

The second photo won fourth place in the Against the Lights category.  Venus is captured in this panoramic mountain view over the cirque of Salazie. Mars is visible to the lower right and bright stars Alpha and Beta Centauri are to the top left. The colourful glows in the mist are from the lights of small villages hidden in the valley.

"Venus above Reunion Island"

I have blog posts with more photos taken by Luc Perrot here, here and here.

If you want to see all the winning photos please click here.

"Island Among Stars"

"Like a page torn from The Little Prince, the French island of Réunion becomes a small planet amid a starry sky in a composite picture taken last week by astrophotographer Luc Perrot.

The picture is what's called a stereographic projection, a form of digital processing that shows a 360-degree spherical panorama as a flat image. This view stitches together several long-exposure shots of the night sky—including the arc of the Milky Way—as seen from the tiny volcanic island, east of Madagascar".


P.S. Can you spot the person standing?

From National Geographic.

Milky Way over Reunion Island's volcano, le Piton de la Fournaise

"On Reunion Island, it is known simply as "The Volcano." To others, it is known as the Piton de la Fournaise, which is French for the Peak of the Furnace. It is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. The Volcano started a new eruption last month by spewing hot lava bombs as high as 10 meters into the air from several vents. Pictured above, the recent eruption was caught before a star filled southern sky, appearing somehow contained beneath the arching band of our Milky Way Galaxy. Also visible in the background sky is the Pleiades open star cluster, the constellation of Orion, the brightest star Sirius, and the neighboring Large and Small Magellanic Cloud galaxies. (Can you find them?) The Piton de la Fournaise erupted for months in 2006, and for days in 2007, 2008, and in January of 2010. Nobody knows how long the current eruption will last, or when The Volcano will erupt next".

Source NASA.

NASA's photo of the day : Reunion island

"Is beauty in the eye of this beholder? Earlier this month, over Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean, a playful photographer with an eye for the sky took eight images and composed the above intriguing picture. The full fisheye frame shows everything above the horizon, including a lamp-illuminated landscape around the edges, and the zenith of the sky directly overhead. The image, however, may be more than beautiful -- it may also be a scavenger hunt. Can you find the photographer's tent, the slope of a volcano (active Piton de la Fournaise), a picturesque shoreline, and the lights of the nearby town (Saint Philippe)? One remarkable feature of the above image is that its center contains the very center of our Milky Way Galaxy."

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap100629.html