The public lecture «The giant planet Jupiter» by Damian Peach took place on Thursday 19 February. The event was organized by Manchester Astronomical Society in collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University. Scientists and photographers gathered together to see images of the gas giant. Then Damian Peach told us about his work.
You have a publication in Nature, international scientific journal. How do you feel you’re an amateur astronomer or a photographer?
-That’s a very good question. I would have to say a mixture of both. I think primarily in the early days I could consider myself an astronomer much more than a photographer, but these days I think the lines have become much more blurred between them.
How long have you been interested in astronomy?
-I have been interesting in astronomy for more than 20 years. To be specific, 26 years, so quite a long time. I think I have been interesting in it since the age of nine or ten. It’s a lifelong passionate interest.
When was the first time you saw a stellar body using special instruments?
-The first time I looked into a telescope I was probably twelve years old. I was looking at Venus in the evening and I could vividly remember seeing it through a small telescope. And I even said «Oh, my God!». It had quite a significant impact on me. That was the first time I had actually seen another planet with a telescope, I looked at something other than a little dot in the sky. It was another world. So that why that observation sticks in my mind.
You’re talking about Jupiter and two of its moons today. You’ve won the Royal Observatory’s prestigious «Astronomy Photographer of the Year» award for your observation on this planet. Why the gas giant has had such a strong effect on you?
-It’s just such a dynamic world changing all the time. Jupiter is so big and you can see a lot on it with a telescope. So, with the changing so much all the time you just keep your interest. You never know what is going to happen, it’s unpredictable. And we still don’t really fully understand some of the events. It’s the one planet, I’ve always enjoyed to looking at since I first used a telescope. I was stricken by its size and the fact that I could actually see quite a lot details on it. Most people are usually impressed by pictures of Saturn because it’s very beautiful. However, Jupiter is just so dynamic and colorful, that’s why it has had a significant effect on me.
Are other objects like comets and minor planets interesting for a planetary photographer, and why?
I spent quite a lot of time of the last two or three years photographing comets. They are also fascinating objects because, perhaps in a similar way, they are dynamic. For example, with galaxy’s nebulas - they are very static in their nature, they don’t change really in a human-life time. But comets are changing in quite dramatic way developing tails. That’s why I have a similar interest in this kind of dynamic objects.
Who inspired you to be a planetary photographer?
-The man who primarily inspired me was Dr. Don Parker from the United States. His images really motivated me to go into photography of the planets. I remember seeing the images from Don in the early 90’s and they really impressed me. We met with Don Parker once in 2008.
You’re always searching for the night sky. What can you observe in the day sky?
-There are a lot of interesting things there. I have time to time turned my hand into photographing the Sun. It’s possible to do this with filters on the telescope, for example, you can take these images using H-Alpha Telescope. The one thing I particularly try to do is very high resolution visible line photographs of the solar surface. I’ve managed to do this on a few occasions. You could really see the solar granulation and very tiny details on the solar surface. And again, it wasn’t possible till recent years.
What is the best location for observing the planets?
-My favorite location is the Caribbean Island of Barbados. It is a really great location for astronomy. I’ve been eight or nine times there, primarily for photographing the planets. And the most detailed images I showed were taken there. It’s such a great place because the atmosphere there is very tranquil which allows you to get incredibly sharp images of the planets. Somewhere like in Barbados you can get several, maybe three or four, nights a week when you can get images like that. It just allows you to do things you can’t do here at home. I’ve visited quite a lot of observatories, but there is another place I would like to get to - the observatories in Hawaii.
You’ve participated in numerous planetary campaigns. Are they kind of scientific events or amateur meetings?
-There are a combination of both amateur and professional. One of the great things about amateur planetary imaging is that there are a lot of professional scientists involved in the group I’m part of. People at NASA JPL and other observatories have a tremendous interest in the images that amateurs take of the gas giant, because they are also quite detailed. There is no spacecraft around Jupiter, so we learn about it primarily from the images. I’ve been invited to the European Planetary Science Congress a few times, but I have never participated in the scientific conferences. This is something I have to change eventually.
Today you’ve been invited by Manchester Astronomical Society, one of the oldest in the UK. How do you feel when academic organizations pay a close heed to your work? Do you feel you can contribute to science?
-Absolutely. Over the course of my career, I’ve always thought to make a contribution to the study of the planets. I have been photographing them for fifteen years or so. It’s always pleasure when you can make a scientific contribution. In the work I’ve done, it was quite important to submit it to people who could study it further. You can find a lot of astronomers who just tend to take pictures for their own enjoyment and maybe not really think about doing anything scientific. One of the great things with the planetary observing is that so much we can do as amateurs with regard to science. On the other hand, a lot of professional scientists do have a huge interest in the images we do. It’s great when papers can be written based on the work such we’ve done recently with the Mars clouds.
Can you imagine you being planetary photographer 50 years before/after this day?
- As for the future, it will be really incredible with the technology that will become available. Looking back into the past, it was not easy to do even what I did. The amount of work involved in doing this was tremendous. Now it’s becoming easier to do observations, which is great. It’s better because the more people do observations, the more images we have. You can choose the opportunity to discover things. Like those important events on Jupiter, they would never have been discovered without so many people around the world being active observers.