Star gazer

Short Description
his innovative techniques were initially developed. in the darkroom, today Malin works his imaging. magic using Adobe Photoshop CS2 software. SUCCESS STORY …

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Content
Stargazer
World-renowned astrophotographer brings objects in the
universe to light using Adobe?Photoshop?CS2 software
When you see an exquisite color photograph of
a galaxy or nebula, you have astrophotographer
David Malin to thank. He developed the
first practical method for making true-color
astronomical photographs from black-andwhite
plates-a breakthrough because normal
color film can’t be used for astrophotographic
purposes. Film does not work well with the
long exposures required to capture the faint
light of distant objects, so emulsions and glass
plates must be used. Malin also developed imaging
techniques capable of revealing faint details
previously unseen by astronomers, leading to
the discovery of new galaxies and other faint
objects, as well as better color photographs.
By developing new methods of detecting faint
objects, Malin has not only brought color and
clarity to astronomy but also contributed to our
current understanding of both the dimensions
and distribution of galaxies, and the nature of starforming
nebulae and clusters of stars. Although
his innovative techniques were initially developed
in the darkroom, today Malin works his imaging
magic using Adobe Photoshop CS2 software.
SUCCESS STORYFrom darkroom to digital
“Since the advent of Photoshop, most of the
photographic methods I devised have digital
counterparts,” says Malin. “Today, film-based
processes in astrophotography have been almost
entirely replaced by digital methods of image
capture and processing, most using Adobe
Photoshop CS2 at some stage. The result is that
images can be processed far faster and with greater
precision, improving our ability to understand
the universe and to share its beauty.”
Malin worked for 26 years as a photographic scientist
and astronomer at the Anglo-Australian Observatory
(AAO). Although he’s officially retired, he still works
in conjunction with the AAO, colorizing, retouching,
presenting on the web, and giving new life to the vast
set of photographic images that the observatory’s
telescopes have captured since the 1970s. Though
photography has long been supplanted by digital
imaging at all professional observatories, the images
made on glass plates cover a wide field of view and
are still a valuable archive. The images from AAO
were captured using specialized black-and-white
emulsions coated on glass. Equally specialized
techniques are needed to extract information from
these images and to combine them, bringing out
unexpected color and faint detail….