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David Malin, 2021 October 3
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David Malin Images
A source of specialised scientific images
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David Malin on the roof of the Observatoire de Paris Photo by Bob Bee
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David Malin Images is a specialised photographic library of inspirational and informative scientific photographs selected from a variety of
sources. Each image is extensively documented and accompanied by an informative caption. All the images are available as high resolution digital files.
David Malin himself has had a long fascination with light and colour and the interface between art and science. He has been involved in scientific
photography since the mid-1960s, initially using optical and electron microscopes and X-ray diffraction techniques to shed a new light on problems
in pure and applied chemistry. Some of these images are featured on these pages.
In 1975, he joined the newly-created Anglo-Australian Observatory (AAO, now the Australian Astronomical Observatory)
as its photographic scientist, and applied his imaging techniques to studying much larger and more distant objects, including
Malin 1, the first giant, low-surface-brightness galaxy discovered and still the largest known spiral system.
The AAO photographs (below) were made from glass negatives, mostly using plates from the Anglo-Australian and UK Schmidt telescopes.
They were the first series of deep-sky astronomical images made using the now-universal additive, RGB color process designed to show telescopic objects
in true colour. These images are accessible on the Australian DataCentral-hosted
Australian Astronomical Observatory's images pages
Spiral galaxy NGC 5236
The Horsehead nebula in Orion
Globular cluster NGC 6752
While his astronomical images are widely known, in an earlier life David also enjoyed making beautiful pictures using microscopes of various kinds.
His work as a chemist involved studying organic crystalline materials, and these offered an endless variety of shapes and colours when seen in a polarising microscope.
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About Akira Fujii
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David Malin and Akira Fujii in Japan
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Akira Fujii is a celebrated Japanese photographer who was a pioneer in the difficult art of making long-exposure, wide-field colour photographs
of the night sky on large format colour film. This now done much more easily in the digital age, Akira Fujii's pictures are still among the best ever made.
His images have been published extensively, especially in Sky & Telescope magazine, as well as many books and and other periodicals.
They are are admired for their distinctive style and accurate star colours. All Akira Fujii's pictures were made in-camera without digital manipulation.
Most of Akira Fujii's pictures were taken on large format transparency film, and these superb quality films have been scanned at high resolution to make the images seen on these pages.
The World at Night
The images above were made in the spirit of
The World at Night, founded by Babak Tafreshi and is an initiative of
Astronomy without Borders. The aim of both these organisations is to increase awareness of one of nature's most profound
experiences, the subtle beauty of the night sky. David Malin is honoured to be a consultant to TWAN.
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