This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page A photographer spent five years traveling the world to turn the lens on amateur astronomers who have contributed to science Dan Homer visited stargazers across four different continents to take gorgeous black and white photos that document the environment of amateur astronomers as well as the citizen scientists themselves “The people I photographed are people who have contributed to research in some way,” Homer tells PetaPixel During the course of his project, which is currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter he met Jack Newton whose research on supernova 2010O in Arp 299 led to him being granted time as an investigator on the Hubble Space Telescope “It’s all these people who are connected all over the world who contribute to research,” he says “Where they are [on Earth] is important because if they’re in South Africa or India or wherever and a NASA telescope on the ground is on the opposite side of the Earth these astronomers have a view of the object NASA wants to look at “The billion-dollar telescope is useless and these people who might have a $500 or a $1,000 telescope become valuable just because of their geography.” and France for the project he calls Route de la Belle Etoile (Route of the Beautiful Star) “Some of them live in the middle of nowhere [for the dark skies],” he explains “Trevor Barry in Australia lives in Broken Hill which is a frontier town; the last town before nothingness in the middle of Australia “You can drive to the end of the town in about 30 seconds but when you get there it just turns into desert.” Homer says a lot of the people he met were of retriment age and had been inspired by the Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s which caused people to “look up.” It’s slightly surreal to think we’re sitting on this rock looking out into the cosmos and experiencing meaning as a result,” he says “That’s why I approached it in black and white the various geographies I visited all over the world all look very different “The general background and the colors or what people were wearing was so at odds “I think the black and white eliminated that a little bit which decontextualizes it and knits all these geographies together without them looking too different.” who does not partake in astrophotography himself says that he has spoken to scientists who confirmed that amateur astronomers make a “small but significant contribution” and have helped astrophysics meaningfully “They’re unpaid and they do it in their free time,” he adds Homer is crowdfunding to release the project as a book entitled Route de la Belle Etoile (Route of the Beautiful Star). His Instagram can be found here Disclaimer: Make sure you do your own research into any crowdfunding project you’re considering backing While we aim to only share legitimate and trustworthy campaigns there’s always a real chance that you can lose your money when backing any crowdfunded project Become a PetaPixel Member and access our content ad-free After a few years of limited international travel people are more eager than ever to take their bucket-list trips to far-flung destinations—and we’re not getting any younger If you’ve been longing to see the Northern Lights and are thinking of making the trek in 2023, it would help to know where you have the best shot of experiencing the aurora borealis in person. Fortunately, the travel experts at Kiwi.com have put together a list of destinations to consider Before we get into the destinations, we wanted to mention a few general strategies to maximize your chances of catching the Northern Lights: September through April are the best months to plan a trip Though you can’t control the weather you can schedule your trip around the moon: The Northern Lights will be most visible during the new or crescent moon Get as far away from cities and light pollution as possible According to the experts at Kiwi.com you have your best shot at seeing the Northern Lights in 2023 from one of these destinations: Revontuli: Roughly 15 minutes from the Hankasalmi Observatory; also a classic Finnish sauna and spa town where Northern Lights can be seen from the frozen shores of Lake Inari Tromsø: Port city; take a boat excursion for the best views and forests; Northern Lights are visible most nights Abisko: Home to Abisko National Park and the Aurora Sky Observatory Kiruna: Sweden’s northernmost city with a high-end “camp” (resort) designed for those seeking the Northern Lights Kleifarvatn Lake: 30 minutes outside Reykjavík but potentially less crowded than Thingvellir National Park (also located near the capital) Sandgerði: Fishing village on a peninsula in the southwestern part of the island with sweeping views of the horizon Yukon: Home to Dawson City’s Midnight Dome and other amenities for tourists hoping to see the Northern Lights Elizabeth Yuko is a bioethicist and adjunct professor of ethics at Fordham University Author Dan Homer reveals how it came about It was early 2019 when I chanced upon a news article championing the work of an amateur astronomer What followed were four years of intense research punctuated by a pandemic with many a self-funded journey to photograph amateur astronomers who in some way contribute to professional research But my interest runs deep – and has sustained since I was a boy when my grandfather would hoist me atop his shoulders In my encounters with these amateur astronomers our lives intertwined by a zeal for the stars not to mention the frequency with which Star Trek cropped up in conversation.   My forthcoming book Route de la Belle Etoile attempts to reflect the global gossamer thread of amateur scientists If I had a bit more money that list would be longer (and before the pandemic made 2020-2021 ‘research’ years) the project was well underway as I found myself driving solo for hours towards the Canadian border from Spokane in the USA Later that evening, I was perched on Jack Newton’s rooftop home observatory overlooking Osoyoos, with a moon underlit by soft earthshine We discussed the unlikely possibility of extra-terrestrial visits to Earth with other guests in tow in his eclectic astronomy-themed and wallpapered B&B Jack’s supernova work is familiar to those in the know - of particular note his efforts in search of the Progenitor of the Type Ib Supernova 20100 in Arp 299 for which he was granted time as an investigator on the Hubble Space Telescope The B&B sadly closed its doors for good in 2023 Jack is a classic example of the lone amateur remotely partnering with the professionals documenting this kind of intimate yet behind-the-scenes collaboration can be a challenge so I was keen to find a visual opportunity that would illuminate it more emphatically strolling amongst the domes of L’Observatoire de Haute-Provence I arrived in Provence to the warm embrace of a French summer evening I was there for five nights to attend the Spectro Star Party organised annually by instruments manufacturer I disembarked my taxi to a field littered with telescopes amateurs and professionals worked in unison Common targets of interest were 10 Lac and Deneb but observers freely pointed their instruments on targets that took their fancy Some collaborations hit sweeter notes; married couple Christian Buil and Valérie Desnoux Shelyak promised participants much merriment: “you may not have time to do everything because there is also a swimming pool on the site hiking trails in the scrubland around the site some opportunities to take a nap… It will give an excuse to return the following year.”  When it comes to amateurs collaborating with each other the so-called “Finnish Pro-am Network” is a self-organised standout They operate a three-observatory mission spanning the girth of the country Amateur astronomer Arto Oksanen proved a generous guide for the course of my stay in the country in late 2019 Trying to maximize the science output of observations for example monitoring the recurrent nova M31N 2008-12a for nova outburst – taking a deep image every clear night to check if the nova is visible or not In tandem with other observers around the globe they also make observations of other high interest targets like eclipsing cataclysmic variables – combining light curves that can be several days long – something a single professional telescope cannot do and roughly six thousand kilometres south-east of Finland - I was in a decidedly moister Pune It was there I met another variable-observing group members of Jyotirvidya Parisanstha which claims to be the oldest such astronomical society in the country domed observatory sits as a beacon to amateur science against the disorder of the cityscape.  JVP members make variable star observations and submit them to the AAVSO (American Association of Variable Star Observers) They tend to use an 11” 3000mm for planetary imaging and also report asteroid occultation data to the IOTA (International Occultation Timing Association) and on top of that – they coordinate the IOTA-India I was on the other side of the world in Australia having driven more than eight hours from Melbourne to the frontier home of Trevor Barry in Broken Hill Trevor’s is a name etched in many a memory – forever associated with Saturn His custom 408mm F4.5 Newtonian is imprinted with care We sat in his office as Trevor chronicled his recent collaborative efforts observing a cyclone at 50°N in the atmosphere of Saturn – the source of eight separate convective storms he had articulated how many a space scientist invariably describe their work: “what does it make me feel This is a small excerpt of the stories of the people and places featured in this extensively researched photobook understood to be the first monograph spotlighting the global patchwork of amateur astronomers who contribute to professional astronomical research The project is live on Kickstarter now. Visit our Kickstarter page to support the printing of the work by pre-ordering a copy The book is to be published by renowned publisher GOST Books and the title! Route de la Belle Etoile (Route of the Beautiful Star) is a road in Grenoble Amateur spectroscopist Olivier Thizy lobbied his local authority successfully for the name change See more of Dan's images from the book below This article originally appeared in the Journal of the British Astronomical Association Neste is introducing public high power charging (HPC) at its service stations in Finland for light and medium-duty electric vehicles Neste MY Renewable Charging™ adds another option to Neste’s portfolio of solutions in Finland for supporting the transition to low-emission transport Neste’s first public high power charging stations will become available at the turn of the year at Neste Hankasalmi Jari-Pekka and Neste Oulunbaari Maikkula service stations Neste aims to open dozens of new fast charging stations at Neste service stations across Finland by the end of 2024 Neste has received EUR 3 million for the construction of its public EV charging network in transport project funding from the European Union’s Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Facility under the Connecting Europe Facility Program “Neste has been at the forefront in reducing transport-related emissions with its Neste MY Renewable Diesel We will continue to seek out new opportunities for supporting our customers in cutting greenhouse gas emissions Offering EV charging to Neste customers in Finland is a natural continuum to our product and  service development as diverse solutions are needed to reduce transport-related emissions,” says Katri Taskinen head of sales for the Neste Finland service station network Neste launched its Neste Charging service including smart charging solutions in February 2022 for logistics companies and their subcontractors operating in Finland the first workplace EV charging solutions were introduced at Neste’s Porvoo refinery and the company’s headquarters in Espoo The new Neste MY Renewable Charging stations have been developed to satisfy customer needs and they fit seamlessly into the Neste service station network which buys all of its electricity from renewable energy sources “The new Neste MY Renewable Charging stations make travel easier for EV drivers effortless card payments and charging capacity Our high power charging stations always use top-of-the-line technology that EV drivers can benefit from especially during rush hour and heavy holiday traffic We must ensure that the coverage of  high power charging stations is sufficient considering the growing number of electric vehicles and that stations have adequate capacity for multiple cars and drivers simultaneously,” says Taskinen Further information: Please contact Neste’s media service, tel. +358 800 94025 / media@neste.com (weekdays from 8.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. EET). Please subscribe to Neste’s releases at https://www.neste.com/for-media/releases-and-news/subscribe The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) Neither the European Union nor CINEA may be held responsible for them Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker HELSINKI FINLAND JUser: :_load: Unable to load user with ID: 42 "The ice covers of lakes and rivers are too thin for anyone to go out on" The quick melting of snow and ice took outdoor exercisers by surprise in different parts of Finland on Boxing Day Rescue services have rescued people who have fallen through the ice in Kiiminki Mild weather continues in the southern and middle parts of Finland at least until the end of the year estimates the meteorologist of Helsingin Sanomat Matti Eerikäinen the temperature will fall under freezing only in northern Lapland In southern and middle parts of the country the temperature rises close to 5 °C the ice covers are dangerously thin even as far up north as in the Oulu region An exception is made by the Kainuu and North Karelia regions where the thickness of ice was measured to be even as much as 30 centimetres on 20th of December In southern Finland the ice covers are exceptionally thin "The ice covers of lakes and rivers are too thin for anyone to go out on everywhere south of Oulu On the mouth of the river the ice cover is weak on the sea says Olli Utriainen the head of the water department of the Northern Ostrobothnia's ELY Centre Finnish Environment Institute has given a warning about the thin ice in an area stretching from Central Finland to Oulu In southern and western Finland the ice covers have melted almost completely already Tapio Mannio HSJuho-Pekka Pekonen HSImage: Matti Björkman / Lehtikuva Advertisement inquiries and other after-sales issues: info@helsinkitimes.fi Helsinki Times is the first and only English language newspaper providing news about Finland in English A weekly print edition of Helsinki Times was published from March 2007 up until Feb Helsinki Times is an online-only publication and other groups and individuals interested in Finland from all around the world © Helsinki Times All rights reserved.  Terms of Use | Privacy Policy