Sirius A & B

Sirius, designated Alpha Canis Majoris, is the brightest star in the night sky with a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. Its name is derived from a Greek word meaning "glowing". Sirius appears so bright because of its intrinsic luminosity and its proximity to the Solar System, as at a distance of 8.6 ly it is one of Earth's nearest neighbors. Sirius is in reality a binary star consisting of a bright white main-sequence star, twice as massive as the Sun (called Sirius A), and a faint white dwarf companion (termed Sirius B). The distance between the two varies between 8.2 and 31.5 astronomical units as they orbit every 50 years, which, seen from Earth, correspond to an apparent separation between 3 and 11 arcsec (text adapted from Wikipedia).At the time of the image their separation was closed to the maximum, which will be reached around 2025. C14 +Siebert 1.5x (@ f/16) - Drizzle 1.5x - ZWO ASI290MM - iOptron CEM120 - Singapore

the Southern Cross

This is the most popular constellation of the southern sky, so characteristic that many countries put it in their national flag... The dark nebula at the left is the Coal sack.

The Scorpion

One of the most beautiful constellations of the whole sky, this area is a real mine of sky gems

Orion the Hunter

The master of the winter sky, perhaps the most popular northern constellation after the big dipper.

Lyra

The tiny constellation of Lyra, home of one of the brightest stars of the whole sky, Vega

Starry Dolphin

The beautiful constellation of the Delphinus (dolphin)

Cassiopeia, the Queen

One of the most beautiful constellations of the northern sky full of deep skies objects.

Saggittarius the archer

The Constellation of Sagittarius (the archer) with its typical teapot shape

The Milky Way

The center of our galactic home, as can be seen over the head under real dark rural skies

Southern sky gems

This wide field shot is a window on many popular southern objects. In particular from left to right is the Southern Cross and the Coal Sack, the running chicken nebula IC2948 and the large Eta Carinae nebula.

The sky above, the sky under

A truly impossible reflection. In fact this is a mosaic of two polar star trails, the northern sky (upper) taken from Canary Island (28° North) and the southern one (below) taken from Namibia (23° South).

Southern Settings

The Southern Cross was setting during this 5 minutes fixed camera exposure. But every minute I slightly defocused obtaining this particular effect...

Dancing under the South Pole

The entrance gate of Farm Hakos, in Namibia

Zodiacal Light & Milky Way

The Zodiacal Light and the winter Milky Way before dawn at Roque de Los Muchachos the morning of October 1, 2003. The main telescopes silhouette from left to right are the William Herschel Telescope (WHT), the Northern Telescope (NOT), and Galileo Telescope (TNG) and the dome of Grantecan.

Imaging in the Outback

My portable telescope is tracking the stars during a photo session at Meeline station, Mt. Magnet, Western Australia

Stars' powered wind mill

Meeline station, Mt. Magnet, Western Australia

African nights

The rotation around the sout pole, recorded at Farm Hakos, in Namibia, Africa. The red light paths were left by my portable night light during my movement back and forth my room and the telescope location

Astrophotography under the giants

A night with telescopes at Roque del Los Muchachos summit.

Sunrise over the Ocean

Sunrise over the ocean as seen from La Palma mountain top. Many clouds were floating over the sea well below the visible horizon.

Lunar Eclipse over "Villa Capra"

The total lunar eclipse of 21 January 2001 gave me a good opportunity to take this picture of one of the most beautiful and popular buildings set in the outings of Vicenza, my birth city. Built in 1570 for the prelate Paolo Almerico, "La Rotonda" (officially "Villa Capra") is probably the most famous Villa of Andrea Palladio (1508/1580). It is situated atop a hill and has four identical facades that look out upon cultivated fields on three sides and a wooded slope on the fourth, from where this picture was taken. La Rotonda differentiates in the scenery of the venetian villas of the latter half of the '500: it's a suburban mansion, refined meeting point for the aristocratic of Vicenza, place of amusement and "literary idleness". Only Capra family, that acquired it in the 1591, ordered to Vincenzo Scamozzi the adjacent buildings assigned to the agricultural life.