Gallery of Masterpieces

Images of amateurs' know-how

What does mean "to take the best picture" of an celestial object ? 

It is to reach the highest resolution using a specific scope, an image taken in the best transparency and seeing conditions as possible to prevent any degradation. The image must not show traces of optical aberrations, guiding corrections or processing artifacts. Thanks to the author skills the image must be well balanced for contrast, colors and processed to reveal features in both brights areas and dark zones.

The pictures presented in next pages have been published with the courtesy of the authors, also a way to promote their talent and their work. Some of my astrophotographs also also presented.

For the pleasure of your eyes here are some perfect examples of what I call "masterpieces", pride of their author, several having been recognized with prestigious awards.

These pictures also show how technology has evolved in some decades from the argentic film to cooled CCD cameras, and mounts using spur gears and optoelectronic or CCD guiding systems to induction Direct Drive mounts without guiding system. Remember that the publication of these images remains subject to copyrights.

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