On Sunday, 18th of February 2018, IMAGES International Photography club visited the Old Leiden Observatory. This observatory is the oldest remaining university observatory in the world. Astronomy has a long and rich tradition in Leiden and the historical buildings still play an educational role for the University and the city of Leiden. During the first part of the evening, our own IMAGE member Lex Scheers and also volunteer at the Old Leiden Observatory, provided an awareness session on the specifics of astrophotography. The emphasis was very much on the use of standard photo equipment, a brief introduction about the celestial mechanics and discussion on the various software tools for post processing the digital images. The second part of the evening was allocated to a tour in the historical buildings and visits to the domes with the historical telescopes. The weather that evening was excellent and the telescopes were targeted at the moon and the Orion nebula. Great evening and a very well-attended event. Certainly something to follow-up with a more practical event on astrophotography.
Photo’s by Timco van Brummelen
