Exhibition: ..... It's full of stars!

The Learning Space is proud to present the exhibition ..... It's full of stars! by Trevor Oates in The Digital Gallery.

Trevor Oates has created a collection of images using ancient light captured through his telescope and astronomic camera. The images display a range of gas clouds in our own galaxy, just a few thousand light years away, to whole galaxies of stars tens of millions of light years away.

Light years, a measure of distance used by astronomers, signify the distance travelled by a beam of light in one year. Given that light travels at 300,000 km per second, it's an immense distance. Since the light takes so long to reach Earth and Trevor's Telescope, these images represent the subject as it would have been many years ago.

Capturing images of distant objects in the night can be an uncomfortable, often frustrating, but ultimately rewarding hobby for Trevor. Once the light, as photons, is converted into electrons by his camera and captured by his microcomputer, Trevor post-processes the data using special software to create the images seen. Image processing involves both art and science, but it's all based on the data, so it isn't just a work of imagination.

Trevor Oates has been a Program Officer at The Learning Space for the past five years. Astronomy has been a long-held interest of his, evolving into a hobby over ten years ago when he captured the transit of Venus across the Sun's surface. His initial setup included a bird-spotting telescope with a solar filter, a tripod, a pocket digital camera for image capture, and a can of tomatoes strapped to the front of the telescope with a rubber band to balance the weight of the camera. From these humble beginnings, Trevor has honed his skills and transitioned to a far more sophisticated telescope setup, enabling him to gather images with greater depth and clarity.