Murchison Widefield Array radio telescope, Southern Stars and a Fireball Meteor

Superb new astrophotography and timelapse video records a fireball meteor and the spectacular southern skies, above the Murchison Widefield Array radio telescope, in Western Australia. 

The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) at the Murchison Radio Observatory (MRO), consists of more than 2000 radio antennas spread across 3 square kilometres, in 128 groups.  The network of radio telescope antennas are formed by groups of dual-polarisation dipole antennas.   Unlike steerable radio telescope dishes, these antennas contain no moving parts.  Instead, advanced signal computer processing is used to focus the antennas on different parts of the sky.

The AU$51 million Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) project is located in the Shire of Murchison, some 800 km north east of Perth, Western Australia's capital city. 

In November 2012, TWAN astrophotographer John Goldsmith recorded a fireball meteor above the MWA radio antennas.  The fireball appeared low in the southeast sky, and created glowing dust that persisted for several minutes.  The fireball was recorded by two  cameras, during multi-hour timelapse sequences.  One camera used a fisheye lens (180° view), and the other used a 24mm wide angle lens, close to the MWA antennas.  

Comet Lovejoy Photo Gallery
December 2011

See our photo gallery of Comet Lovejoy, the spectacular comet gracing the southern skies, December 2011.

Images available for publication or purchase.  Contact us via our enquires form.

Digital Astrophoto Exhibits 
@ Astrofest 2012 

Two major digital astrophotography exhibitions featured at Astrofest, Western Australia's biggest annual astronomy festival.  The evening event, held on Saturday 31 March 2012 at Curtin Stadium, attracted 3,500 visitors.  The digital exhibitions featured The World At Night, and the Western Australian Astrophotography Exhibition.  

Celestial stars light up CHOGM 2011
October 2011

Timelapse from Celestial Visions has featured at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM 2011).

The Celestial Visions timelapse featured “The Pinnacles” Nambung National Park, in Western Australia. 

The unique timelapse vision was created by John Goldsmith.  The vision shows a superb view of the southern stars and setting moon, descending over the famous Pinnacle formations of Namung National Park, Western Australia. 

Leaders and delegates from 54 commonwealth countries attended the CHOGM event, which was held in Western Australia’s capital city, Perth, between 28-30 October 2011.

CHOGM 2011 was officially opened by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, and speeches by the Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, and Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma. 

Commonwealth leaders meet at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to discuss global and Commonwealth issues, and to agree on collective policies and initiatives.

Official CHOGM 2011 web site    www.chogm2011.org/CHOGM2011
The World At Night                      www.twanight.org

VENUS TRANSIT FROM PERTH

Despite very heavy cloud over Perth, Western Australia, superb images of the Venus transit have been photographed by John Goldsmith.  Amazingly, the transit was glimpsed and photographed through cloud.  


Preview photographs are shown to the right.  



The Astronomy WA network now features the Venus Transit article, by Chris Thorne, John Goldsmith and Divya Palaniswamy.  


(External link to the Astronomy WA web site provided below) 
http://www.astronomywa.net.au/General-news/venus-captured-from-behind-the-clouds.html 






MEDIA AND PUBLISHERS:  

Full resolution images are available, 
contact John Goldsmith 
on 0439904536 
or email John.Goldsmith.MSc@gmail.com

Galaxy Centre directly overhead
Southern hemisphere 180 degree view

A superb view of the centre of our galaxy, directly overhead, photographed on 22nd June 2012, viewed from Western Australia (latuitude -31 degrees). 

Prominent is the central bulge of our Milky Way galaxy.  Many constellations are visible, including Scorpius, Sagittarius, and Crux (Sourthern Cross).

A brief period of cloud free winter weather provided a clear view of our Milky Way.

The lower left portion of the image shows high clouds illuminated by reflected city lights of Perth (approximately 150 km distant). 


Image specifications:
      Camera:    Canon 5DII
      Lens:         Canon 8-15mm F4 lens, full frame fisheye lens at 8mm. 
      Image:      3 minutes exposure, 2000ASA, F4

(Above)   Canon 5DII and 8-15mm lens, used for the full frame 180 degree image of the Galaxy

(Above)  The 180 degree image of the Milky way, directly overhead.  

(Above) John Goldsmith, preparing for a cold night of astrophotography

(Above) Dr Chris Thorne and John Goldsmith

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