Khawla Ali (Dubai)
His vision of the planet Saturn coupled with the moon, led Tamim Al-Tamimi to sail into the astronomy of space, turning from a mere amateur photography to an astronomical photographer in-depth in the photography and study of astronomical phenomena and transfer them to the viewer. Although he is an employee, his passion for astronomy and knowledge of the secrets of this vast space prompted him to major in technology and space sciences at the University of Sharjah, and to be accredited as an astronomical photographer at the Emirates Astronomy Society, interrupting a scientific research journey that is renewed daily. He does not even stop looking at his “telescope” to catch many of the astronomical phenomena that occur.
About his beginnings in astronomical photography, Tamim Al-Tamimi explains that he often photographed the moon and its phases, and found pleasure in looking deeply at the nature of its movement and the change in its images. As he zoomed in on the image, he noticed Saturn’s rings, which led him to acquire a sophisticated “telescope” to delve deeper into this aspect.
Al-Tamimi says: The love of change and development brought me to this stage, and since I love photographing the sky and the moon in particular, this hobby developed for me.
photography tools
Al-Tamimi asserts that astronomical imaging equipment is abundant, ranging from digital cameras and smartphone cameras to “telescopes”, and sometimes the camera alone is sufficient for astronomical photography by photographing the arm of the Milky Way without the need for any other equipment. In the case of using the “telescope”, we need many auxiliary tools, such as an astronomical camera, a pointing lens, special optical filters, remote control devices for the “telescope”, as well as power tools such as batteries.
Al-Tamimi shows that the types of astronomical imaging are many and varied, including the scientific one, which needs to study the dimensions and variables that occur on planets and stars, to document a celestial body and track its movement and brightness, including those for amateurs who discover asteroids, comets, or star explosions, and it may be registered in their names.
Challenges
Al-Tamimi explains that there are some obstacles that hinder the work of the astronomer, the first of which is light pollution. We will not be able to obtain clear and accurate images of these celestial bodies in the event of light pollution. The second obstacle is the scarcity and expensiveness of astronomical equipment in our Arab world.
Al-Tamimi points out that astronomical photography must go through stages, including planning the target that we want to photograph or monitor, when it appears and when it will be absent. It is better to stay away from photography on the days of the full moon, with the need to know the weather conditions, as dust and clouds are an obstacle to the astrophotographer. After confirming the previous matters, we begin to prepare the equipment required to monitor and photograph the target, such as accumulators, batteries, connections wires, and imaging controls from a computer and tablets. It is reported that many photographers practice astronomical photography as a hobby, without the need for basic sciences, but with the passage of time they develop a desire to learn and delve into astronomy.
phenomena
Al-Tamimi mentions that among the most beautiful phenomena that he observed, the transit of Mercury in front of the disk of the sun, the great conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn, as well as solar and lunar eclipses. He was also able to photograph the explosion of a star far from Earth, celestial bodies, the eclipse that occurs on Jupiter due to the passage of its moons in front of the sun, and many pictures of galaxies.
Moon Atlas
Tamim Al-Tamimi presented a number of workshops and lectures on photography and astronomy, including for “Sharjah youth”, public libraries, a number of government schools, a discussion session on astrophotography at the Saudi Forum for Space Science and Research, and a workshop for the Mohammed bin Khalid Al Nahyan Association for Future Generations. He is working on the completion of the Moon Atlas project, where he photographs the surface of the moon and shows the most important terrains of craters, lunar seas, mountains and plains.
