Under Wandering Stars

Rural Radiance was taken at Watts Bridge airfield, near Esk in Queensland, Australia. It won a silver award at the 2024 Australian Astrophotography Prize competition.

Mount Barney beneath the Milky Way arch. Taken from the Yellowpinch trail lookout.

The iconic Southern Cross windmill against the backdrop of the Milky Way core.

Campers at Foxbar Falls nestled beside a tranquil mist-kissed billabong, under the enchanting canopy of the Milky Way.

At Goat Rock, situated near Texas along the QLD and NSW border, the lichen covering these colossal granite boulders illuminates under a UV torch.

The giant gas planet, Jupiter as seen from Woolloongabba through a Celestron C9.25" telescope.

Half & Half won an Honourable Mention award at the 2024 David Malin awards. You may find this hanging in the lobby of the CSIRO Parkes Observatory (aka The Dish) and the Sydney Observatory.

Lunar Ball won first place at the 2024 Sky-Watcher Australia Astrophotographer of the Year awards under the Solar System category.

My secret to moon photography is to take 4K60 video and stack the frames.

21 September 2023: the moon made its way across the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex and on Saturday 23 November, it was in the vicinity of the Milky Way core with the Lagoon & Trifid nebulas (seen in purple hues) nearby. These images are a combination of two distinct shots: the moon and the background targets, both taken with a Sigma 105mm lens affixed to a Sony A7IV camera. These composites serves as a vivid illustration of the noticeable contrast in size between the moon and each target, as seen from our vantage point in South East Queensland.

A train of over 50 Starlink satellites pass the moon over Brisbane.

Sol’s chromospehere taken through a Hydrogen-alpha telescope.

11 October 2024: The Aurora Australis captured at 28° South in Kyogle, near the New South Wales and Queensland border.

17 October 2024, at 6:50 pm: Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) over Woolloongabba, Brisbane.

20 January 2025, at 7:54 pm: A time lapse of Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) over Brisbane city.

28 September 2024: Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) over the sunburnt country town Winton of Outback Queensland.

25 January 2025: Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) and an iconic Southern Cross windmill.

19 October 2024: Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) with Venus, the zodiacal light, a meteor, airglow and the Milky Way!

Carina Nebula

The Keyhole Nebula

The Tarantula Nebula

Rho Ophuichi

9:57pm 14 March, 2024. A meteor fireball appears over the city of Brisbane.

5:05am 20 April, 2024. Starlink G6-52 chain of 23 satellites parade across the Brisbane city skyline.

An alluring approach to astrophotography, this style seamlessly blends Deep Space Objects with Nightscapes. It vividly depicts the striking contrast between the Deep Space Object and the surrounding environment, offering a perspective from our vantage point on Earth.

Explore further in my Deepscapes article delving into this realm of Astrophotography.

If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I’ll bet they lived a lot differently - Calvin & Hobbes.

The Bokeh Master meets Rho Ophiuchi

Here are some astrophotography tools I wrote that you might find useful.

The Nightmap

Explore a map to discover prime locations for Milky Way photography, dark spots ideal for telescope setups, moon, comet compositions, accommodation and more.

https://thenightmap.com

My Astronomy Picture of the Moment

Can’t get your own NASA APOD? Make your own with a simple one page site.

My APOM

Download the free source code on https://github.com/meltaxa/apom.

Hi, my name is Dennis Mellican. I am based in Brisbane, Australia. During the day I tinker in “The Cloud” and after hours I tend to avoid all types of clouds, preferring a clear night sky to observe the universe.

Since 2022, I have gained an interest in astronomy and the hobby has become a passion. I’ve been standing on the shoulders of giants, learning the science and the craft. My contributions are a way of giving back to the community, in particular via The Nightmap. For beer money, I have sold prints and do workshops on request.

While I am present on social media, I don’t actively pursue a larger audience with trending hashtags. I’m content hiding amongst the stars, creating art rather than chasing likes.

Thank you for visiting, and I hope you discovered something that piqued your interest.

Cheers,
Dennis.