| This lavishly illustrated photographic exploration of the universe will delight everyone intrigued by the night sky. This is the finest collection of photographs of nebulas, star clusters, individual galaxies, and galaxy clusters ever assembled. World renowned astronomical photographer David Malin, Photographic Scientist at the Anglo-Australian Observatory in Australia, captures distant worlds and phenomena in their astonishing natural colors. These unique pictures are accompanied by nontechnical captions and a lucid text that is accessible and inspiring to the general reader as well as to astronomers and photographers. The foremost astronomical photographer in the world, David Malin is the discoverer of an enigmatic galaxy now known as Malin-1. His photographs have appeared in locations as diverse as Australian postage stamps and the cover of Life magazine. There are 158 color photos (60 published for the first time), plus 41 black and white photos, 6 line diagrams, and 14 tables. They have been made using some of the world's largest telescopes in the southern hemisphere and using the latest darkroom techniques – such as unsharp masking, photographic amplification, image addition and subtraction, and more. The photos reveal hitherto unseen details in familiar and not-so-familiar deep space objects alike. The objects are seen in their natural colors, much as they would appear to the naked eye of an observer in deep space – if the eye was a thousand times more sensitive. Malin's lucid and highly informative description of each photo weaves an informal, but well-rounded, survey of our universe as seen through the sharp eyes of its foremost photographer. A review commented, "The beautiful images in this lucidly written book convey effectively the unique role that photography has played in the scientific exploration of the small luminous fraction of the universe...[T]his book is the culmination of more than a century of astronomical photography, and the photographs may be the last of their kind....[T]he scope and rich detail of its photographs, and the technical skill of the author...will make this book a classic." 284 hardbound 9.75" x 11" pages. |
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