Billy Currie Photography

Billy Currie Photography Photography Holidays, Courses and Workshops
www.billycurriephotography.co.uk

At Billy Currie Photography we offer holidays courses and workshops to suit all levels of Photographer. We have courses which run from 1 to 7 days, situated in some of the most beautiful areas of both Scotland and Northern England.

The Jellyfish Nebula (IC 443)This incredible object is a supernova remnant in the constellation of Gemini. It is basica...
19/04/2020

The Jellyfish Nebula (IC 443)

This incredible object is a supernova remnant in the constellation of Gemini. It is basically the remains of a giant star (sun) which went supernova, a term used to describe one of the most violent and powerful explosions in our universe.

Although it may appear a somewhat sad demise for such an incredible phenomenon, it is actually the opposite, for this is a new beginning and exactly how our amazing universe works.
During the Big Bang there were only a handful of our lighter elements created, mostly hydrogen and helium with a few others kicking around in much smaller quantities.

As the universe expanded, fusion of hydrogen into helium began and stars (suns) were born.

As the hydrogen is used up, pressure and heat increases and the star begins other fusion resulting in the creation of even heavier elements. In the largest of stars, much bigger than our own sun, elements right down to Iron (element 26) can be produced. As these stars reach end of life they explode and scatter their elements out over the universe.

So where did the other 65-ish heavier elements come from? Well, only the very largest of stars can end their life in such a violent and powerful explosion to ever be classed as a supernova. It is this unimaginably intense pressure, heat and energy which then creates the rest of our elements before casting them far out into the universe beyond.

The death of a star is never an ending for it is this process that seeds the universe with the ingredients for new stars, planets, moons and life itself.

It’s easy to think of us humans as a little special but the truth is, we are made from the most basic and plentiful elements in the universe, not the fancy, rare supernova elements, just your basic common vanilla ones that can be found in abundance almost everywhere.

We humans, our houses, our cities, our planet, our moon, our galaxy, our universe and every atom that forms them all, came from the heart of a dying star.
We are basically stardust, what an incredible ingredient to be made from.

For photographic Holidays, Courses and Workshops please check out my website - www.billycurriephotography.co.uk

For more of my social media galleries -
www.instagram.com/billycurriephotography
www.flickr.com/billycurrie
www.500px.com/billycurrie

Horsehead NebulaCan't get out to take pictures for now but great excuse to focus a little more in an upward direction.Th...
05/04/2020

Horsehead Nebula

Can't get out to take pictures for now but great excuse to focus a little more in an upward direction.

This is the incredible Horsehead Nebula or IC 434 or even Barnard 33 as the little head shape in the middle is known.

Most of that gas you can see is Hydrogen Alpha (Ha) which is right at the limits of the visible red spectrum. If this were a colour image it would be very very deep red.

Remember on a previous astro post we discussed that light could whizz around the earth 7.5 times a second?
Well It would actually take light around 1500 years to reach this nebula and then another 3 or 4 years just to cross that little tiny horsehead shape in the middle. That is the scale of this stunning Object.

For us in the norther hemisphere we lose this nebula until next autumn as it will sit below our horizon for the summer months. Loads of other equally stunning targets to keep us going for now.

Hope everyone is well and staying safe.

For photographic Holidays, Courses and Workshops please check out my website - www.billycurriephotography.co.uk

For more of my social media galleries -
www.instagram.com/billycurriephotography
www.flickr.com/billycurrie
www.500px.com/billycurrie

After nearly 10 years of running photography workshops I’m continuing to reduce the frequency further, especially around...
17/02/2020

After nearly 10 years of running photography workshops I’m continuing to reduce the frequency further, especially around photography based courses to concentrate more on a limited number of post processing based workshops.

I’m not convinced learning good quality photography is difficult if you source your information from the correct place. The same certainly can’t be said for post processing which is why I feel my time may be best spent in this area.

So from August onwards my courses will predominately be based around various styles of post processing.

There is also still a place left on the next 3 day post processing course on 29th May.
Anyone interested, further details and booking can be found here - https://www.billycurriephotography.co.uk/courses_2020_172655.html

The Orion Nebula (M42)Central Scotland (bortle 5 skies)Canon 7d mkII and 400mm lensAstronomik CLS filterx100 thirty seco...
22/12/2019

The Orion Nebula (M42)

Central Scotland (bortle 5 skies)
Canon 7d mkII and 400mm lens
Astronomik CLS filter
x100 thirty second exposures at ISO1600
x30 flats, x30 bias, x30 darks

This will probably be my last image of the year and I couldn't imagine a subject any more perfect.

To understand where we come from, step into the garden, take some pictures and then see these incredible locations for myself with my own eyes, is nothing less than thrilling and fills me with wonder and excitement.

And if that wasn't exciting enough, to think the light photons captured by my camera have been travelling for 1344 light years. Basically meaning we are looking at Orion as it was some 1344 years ago, roughly the time the Picts and Anglo-Saxons were chasing each other around the UK, is just mental.

I think it incredible to be able to create a small window into the long and distant past, the perfect image to end the year.

-----------Some M42 facts------------
The Orion Nebula is visible in the northern hemisphere mostly during our winter months. It is so large and bright it can even be seen with the naked eye if you know where to look.

Distance from earth is around 1344 light years. Remember, light goes around the earth 7.5 times per second so the distance light travels in 1344 years is fairly substantial.

It's also a fairly chunky nebula and estimated to be around 24 light years across.

The Orion Nebula is an example of a stellar nursery where new stars(suns) are still being born. It is home to around 700 stars in different stages of formation many of which are very young, less than a million years old. The youngest and brightest members are actually believed to be less than 300,000 years old and the very brightest of these may be as young as 10,000 years old.

I'm no scientist but suspect even if we could travel that far it may be a place we would wish to avoid as conditions for the creation of new stars are not what we would describe as "comfortable".
Stunning and amazing and incredible to look at, but not somewhere we would enjoy for a day out.

For photographic Holidays, Courses and Workshops please check out my website - www.billycurriephotography.co.uk

For more of my social media galleries -
www.instagram.com/billycurriephotography
www.flickr.com/billycurrie
www.500px.com/billycurrie

The North America Nebula Bortle 5 sky (central scotland)Canon 7d at 250mmx67 2 minute exposuresA clear night last Monda...
24/11/2019

The North America Nebula

Bortle 5 sky (central scotland)
Canon 7d at 250mm
x67 2 minute exposures

A clear night last Monday provided me with the opportunity to capture my second astro image, The North America Nebula or NGC 700 or Caldwell 20 as its also known.
You can easily see why it was given such a name, it's likeness to the actual continent is amazing.
The extreme colour is completely natural and comes from the Hydrogen Alpha gas clouds which makes up the nebula

My North America Nebula Facts -
Distance from earth is roughly 1600 light years (remember light goes round the early 7.5 times per second) but it is also an incredibly large structure. To give an idea of its size, the area that resembles Mexico (The Cygnus Wall) alone is around 20 light years in length.
To a human looking up the nebula would cover an area of more than four times the size of the full moon; but its surface brightness is so low it can't normally be seen with the naked eye. Point a camera at it for 2 minutes though and it can be easily captured.

The Cygnus Wall area (Mexico equivalent) is a vast stellar nursery, an area responsible for creating a huge amount of brand new stars (suns)

The smaller area on the right is known as The Pelican Nebula. I assume this may be because of the pelican (as in bird) shape around the top area or am I just imagining that?

Incredible to think this is floating around above my garden, bring on the clear nights.

For photographic Holidays, Courses and Workshops please check out my website - www.billycurriephotography.co.uk

For more of my social media galleries -
www.instagram.com/billycurriephotography
www.flickr.com/billycurrie
www.500px.com/billycurrie

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) (plus bonus satellite galaxies M32 and M110)Taken with Canon DSLR & 100-400mm lensMy previous...
10/11/2019

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31)
(plus bonus satellite galaxies M32 and M110)

Taken with Canon DSLR & 100-400mm lens

My previous post of Andromeda was lacking somewhat in both quality and detail. It was basically a quick snap uploaded out of pure excitement. Excitement that I could actually photograph a deep space object from my back garden in Central Scotland using a normal DSLR and lens.

Fast forward 7 weeks and with very sore legs after a very tough climb up a very steep learning curve, I am proud to present my current version. Whilst this may not be perfect, it is astronomically (forgive the pun) superior in terms of quality and control. It is currently around 52 megapixels in size and shows no significant deterioration in quality even at 100% scrutiny.
It is a milestone for me in terms of Astro photography and I will always consider it my first true astro image.

For anyone interested, I’ll list some accompanying information alongside each astro image giving some basic laymen facts regards the subject.

My Andromeda Facts...
We live on a very small planet which along with another handful of planets (and moons), rotate around our very own star which we call the sun.
We class all this as our Solar System.

Our Solar System exists within a larger collection of objects, a galaxy called The Milky Way.

There are estimated to be another 200 billion stars (suns) in The Milky Way, many of which will have numerous planets rotating around them just like our very own solar system.

In the visible universe there is estimated to be around 100 billion other galaxies in addition to our Milky Way.

If your with me so far (not even sure I’m with myself), that is 100 billion multiplied by 200 billion to give us the total number of stars (suns) in the visible universe, most of which will have planets whizzing around them just like us.
If my calculations – read calculator- are correct, I’d say that’s somewhere in the region of 20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 or twenty sextillion other stars.

Andromeda is also the closed galaxy to our own Milky Way but when they say close, I suppose it’s all relative. Think of it like this, light can travel around the world 7.5 times per second. At that speed it would only take it 2.5 million years to reach Andromeda.

The only reason we can see Andromeda when it is so far away is because of its vast size, it is around 200,000 light years across. Remember, light is so fast it goes round our earth 7.5 times a second, imagine how big Andromeda is if it takes light 200,000 years to travel it’s length.

The Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies are currently on a collision course at a crazy closing speed of 70 miles per second. This may seem alarming at first but when you realise it will take around 4 billion years before impact it doesn’t feel quite as bad.

On a more positive note, it is not something we will ever have to worry about as long before the collision our very own sun will eradicate all life on earth before eventually turning into a red giant and engulfing the earth in full.
Happy days

For photographic Holidays, Courses and Workshops please check out my website - www.billycurriephotography.co.uk

For more of my social media galleries -
www.instagram.com/billycurriephotography
www.flickr.com/billycurrie
www.500px.com/billycurrie

Le Morne, MauritiusWatching some locals fishing along this stunning coastline and even had some lovely cloud floating ar...
21/07/2019

Le Morne, Mauritius

Watching some locals fishing along this stunning coastline and even had some lovely cloud floating around in the distance

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