BEHIND THE LENS

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Hello, I'm Kyrstyn Ong, a Yerkes intern and an avid astrophotographer. All of the images on this website were taken with the StoneEdge20 telescope in El Verano, CA.

I started this project because I wanted to improve my astrophotography skills, and recapturing many Messier objects using Stone Edge Observatory and SEO AstroImage Processor seemed like a good way to get lots of practice.

As I continued imaging and researching each object, I realized that though many people have captured the entire catalog, most of the time the brilliant images are left in the order Messier discovered the objects. Though this order obviously has historical significance, I recognized the need for a more practical organization, one that would serve amateur astronomers like myself, who would really like to be able to find these objects and know which ones are visible in the sky quickly and easily. 

I came up with this. I hope that you enjoy these images--and that you appreciate the beautiful universe in which we live!