Betelgeuse setting

AMANDA CROSS, LANCASHIRE, 4 APRIL 2017

Amanda says: “This shot is made of a series of single images taken 25 seconds apart, slightly out of focus with a high ISO and a low shutter speed to pick out colour variations. Our atmosphere refracts the star’s light just like a prism splits sunlight. When a star is close to the horizon we are looking at it through a thicker part of the atmosphere, which results in more colour flashes that we can see. This image is similar to Steve Brown’s winning entry from IAPY 2016. I think we were both doing the same thing at the same time with Sirius because we tweeted each other. Then I used the same technique on some other stars to see the difference!”

Equipment: Canon EOS 7D Mk II DSLR camera, 300mm lens.

BBC Sky at Night Magazine says: “We have to give Amanda top marks for artistic creativity, for having the foresight to come up with the project and having the patience and know-how to see it through!”

About Amanda: “I enjoy taking images of objects to present them in different ways, or capturing them over time to show how they change. I particularly like to take star trails and I also photograph the International Space Station. I’m a big fan of Star Trek and my love of astronomy comes from my granddad, who had a telescope when I was growing up.”