Under Wandering Stars

The Cosmic Pump won the 2025 Sky-Watcher Astrophotographer of the Year Bronze Award in the Nightscape category. Captured with a Sony A7III and Sony 50mm at Figtree Country Retreat, Southern Downs Queensland.

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.

The Red Bridge built in the mid-1880s, is a reminder of what was achieved long before modern machinery. The rail line was constructed with sheer manpower, horse-drawn drays, and explosives, and before long the area grew with shanties and hotels to support the workers building it. Capture under one of Queensland’s best ceilings at Stanthorpe with a Sony A7IV and Sony 20mm.

The Ballandean Pyramid, not to be confused with the natural granite Pyramid formations in Girraween National Park, this one near Ballandean is a giant hand-built local oddity that looks even more surreal beneath the stars. Framed here with Orion and a sky full of hydrogen-alpha emission and airglow, it is one of Queensland’s more unusual nightscape subjects. Captured with an astro-modified Sony A7RII and Sony 50mm.

Charlie’s Hut won First prize in the 2025 SEQAS Astrophotography Competition. The Nightscape judge, Richard Tatti commented,

“I absolutely love the magnified sky perspective in this image. Also the milky way processing is top notch. Beautiful colours and excellent framing. Obviously a lot of attention to detail is displayed here both in the capture process and editing. It shows how much difference it makes when the method of editing is front of mind during the capture process on location. I love how the lighting on the hut nicely separates it from the dark mountain range in the background. The lighting is generally good although I’d like to see a little less on the centre of the hut and perhaps more on the edge just to draw the eye across the image. That would create a little more mystique. But overall, the composition, subject matter and technique is excellent.”

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.

Saturn as opposition in 2023

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

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

I have seen several Aurora Australis appearances in Queensland.

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

12 November, 2025: Aurora over All Saints, Yandilla, Toowoomba Region

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.

One Moon Skewer, 24 March 2026. The waxing crescent moon at the 1 William Street building.

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.

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

Cheers,
Dennis.