Ken Crawford (astrophotographer)

Last updated
Ken Crawford
Born
Nationality American
OccupationAstrophotographer
Known for Astrophotography
Website www.imagingdeepsky.com

Ken Crawford is an American astrophotographer from Rancho Del Sol Camino, California. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Ken Crawford was born in Gary, Indiana, and was interested in astronomy from a young age. In eighth grade, he built his first telescope. [3] In 1978, he moved to Placerville, California. In 1985, he began his own carpet business, [3] and in 1996 joined with Carpet One to have the largest floor and window covering store in the county. [4] [5]

Current life

In 2001, Crawford renewed his interest in astronomy to become an amateur astrophotographer. [3] In 2004, he was one of the principal founders of the Advanced Imaging Conference held every year in San Jose and has served as president since 2007. In 2008, he was invited to participate in the NASA "Astronomy Picture of the Day" with many of his images appearing as the picture of the day. [6] [7] [8] His images are noted in the astronomy community "for revealing extremely faint structures and details in objects not previously seen." [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astrophotography</span> Imaging of astronomical objects

Astrophotography, also known as astronomical imaging, is the photography or imaging of astronomical objects, celestial events, or areas of the night sky. The first photograph of an astronomical object was taken in 1840, but it was not until the late 19th century that advances in technology allowed for detailed stellar photography. Besides being able to record the details of extended objects such as the Moon, Sun, and planets, modern astrophotography has the ability to image objects outside of the visible spectrum of the human eye such as dim stars, nebulae, and galaxies. This is accomplished through long time exposure as both film and digital cameras can accumulate and sum photons over long periods of time or using specialized optical filters which limit the photons to a certain wavelength.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astronomy Picture of the Day</span> NASA and MTU website

Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is a website provided by NASA and Michigan Technological University (MTU). It reads: "Each day a different image or photograph of our universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer." The photograph does not necessarily correspond to a celestial event on the exact day that it is displayed, and images are sometimes repeated. These often relate to current events in astronomy and space exploration. The text has several hyperlinks to more pictures and websites for more information. The images are either visible spectrum photographs, images taken at non-visible wavelengths and displayed in false color, video footage, animations, artist's conceptions, or micrographs that relate to space or cosmology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Plait</span> American astronomer, writer, and skeptic (born 1964)

Philip Cary Plait, also known as The Bad Astronomer, is an American astronomer, skeptic, and popular science blogger. Plait has worked as part of the Hubble Space Telescope team, images and spectra of astronomical objects, as well as engaging in public outreach advocacy for NASA missions. He has written three books, Bad Astronomy, Death from the Skies, and Under Alien Skies. He has also appeared in several science documentaries, including How the Universe Works on the Discovery Channel. From August 2008 through 2009, he served as president of the James Randi Educational Foundation. Additionally, he wrote and hosted episodes of Crash Course Astronomy, which aired its last episode in 2016.

John Alexander Davis is an American film director, writer, animator, voice actor and composer known for his work both in stop-motion animation as well as computer animation, live action and live-action/CGI hybrids. Davis is best known for creating Nickelodeon's Jimmy Neutron franchise, which enjoyed popularity in the early to mid 2000s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cydonia (Mars)</span> Area of Mars

Cydonia is a region on the planet Mars that has attracted both scientific and popular interest. The name originally referred to the albedo feature that was visible from earthbound telescopes. The area borders the plains of Acidalia Planitia and the highlands of Arabia Terra. The region includes the named features Cydonia Mensae, an area of flat-topped mesa-like features; Cydonia Colles, a region of small hills or knobs; and Cydonia Labyrinthus, a complex of intersecting valleys. As with other albedo features on Mars, the name Cydonia was drawn from classical antiquity, in this case from Kydonia, a historic polis on the island of Crete. Cydonia contains the "Face on Mars", located about halfway between the craters Arandas and Bamberg.

John "Jack" Borden Newton is a Canadian astronomer, best known for his publications and images in amateur astrophotography.

David B. Healy was an American astrophotographer and asteroid discoverer who is known for his contributions to Burnham's Celestial Handbook.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puckett Observatory</span> Private observatory in Georgia, US

Puckett Observatory is a private astronomical observatory located in the state of Georgia. It is owned and operated by Tim Puckett. Its primary observation goals are the study of comets and the discovery of supernovae. To facilitate the latter goal it sponsors the Puckett Observatory World Supernova Search whose astronomers have discovered 369 supernovae.

Steve Mandel is an amateur astronomer and astrophotographer. He owns a small observatory, called Hidden Valley Observatory, in Soquel, California. He has been acknowledged especially for his wide-field photographs of the Milky Way nebulae and for public outreach, for which he has received Amateur Achievement Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Besides this he has also captured and published wildlife images of endangered animals. He works as an American communications coach for professional executives, and is the founder of the Mandel Communications Inc., which aims to teach effective communication and public speaking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Gendler</span> American physician

Robert Gendler is an American physician, amateur astronomer, author and astrophotographer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. Jay GaBany</span> American astronomer and astrophotographer

Robert Jay GaBany is an American amateur astronomer and astrophotographer who is also known for his work with an international team of astrophysicists led by Dr. David Martínez-Delgado. GaBany helped pioneer the use of modest size telescopes and off the shelf CCD-cameras to produce long exposure images that revealed ancient galactic merger remnants in the form of star streams surrounding nearby galaxies that were previously undetected or suspected.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rogelio Bernal Andreo</span> Spanish-American astrophotographer

Rogelio Bernal Andreo is a Spanish-American astrophotographer. He is known for his photographs of deep sky objects. His work has been recognized by NASA as a regular contributor to their Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) 80 times. Andreo's photography has been published in international magazines and periodicals, as well as television networks including the BBC, National Geographic, and the Discovery Channel series Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking.

Robert J. Nemiroff is an Astrophysicist and Professor of Physics at Michigan Technological University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in Astronomy and Astrophysics in 1987 and his B.S. from Lehigh University in Engineering Physics in 1982. He is an active researcher with interests that include gamma-ray bursts, gravitational lensing, and cosmology, and is the cofounder and coeditor of Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD), the home page of which receives over a million hits a day, approximately 20% of nasa.gov traffic. He is married and has one daughter.

Alexandros Maragos is a Asphalt Tinted Silverback filmmaker and photographer. He is known for his landscape photography, night photography and timelapse imagery. His astrophotography work has been recognized by NASA as Astronomy Picture of the Day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astronomy Photographer of the Year</span> Prize competition

Astronomy Photographer of the Year is an annual astronomy photography competition and exhibition that is organised by the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petr Horálek</span>

Petr Horálek is a Czech astrophotographer, popularizer of astronomy and an artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Block (astrophotographer)</span> American astronomer

Adam David Block is an American astrophotographer, astronomy researcher, writer and instructor.

Monochrome photography is one of the earliest styles of photography and dates back to the 1800s. Monochrome photography is also a popular technique among astrophotographers. This is due to the omission of the Bayer filter, a colour filter array that sits in front of the CMOS or CCD sensor, allowing for a single sensor to produce a colour image.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dylan O'Donnell</span> Living australian astrophotographer, web developer and science communicator

Dylan O'Donnell is an Australian IT entrepreneur and amateur photographer, whose astrophotography has been featured by the European Space Agency (ESA), and NASA. His work has been selected twice for NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD).

References

  1. Ken Crawford. "Bio". Ken Crawford. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  2. "Waid observatory" . Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Ken Crawford", Capturing the Stars: Astrophotography by the Masters, ed. Robert Gendler, Voyageur Press, 2009, p. 135
  4. Ken Crawford. "Life". Ken Crawford. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  5. "IC 2944 – Astrophotography by Ken Crawford". 5 May 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  6. "Aiccd" . Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  7. "Apod Nasa" . Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  8. "Skies & Scopes: Ken Crawford Case Study". 20 October 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2023.