Wael Omar's journey into astrophotography began unexpectedly during the quiet skies of the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. A chemist by profession and working in the oil and gas industry in Egypt, Omar turned his gaze upwards, translating a newfound fascination with the stars into a passionate pursuit of celestial photography. This self-taught astrophotographer captures stunning images of constellations, nebulas, and galaxies, often planning his shoots meticulously to overcome the challenges inherent in capturing the night sky.
Omar's dedication extends beyond mere photography. He faces numerous obstacles, including the need for clear weather, the technical demands of night sky photography, and balancing his time-intensive hobby with family responsibilities. Despite these, he has achieved notable recognition, winning first place in several astrophotography competitions and becoming the first Egyptian to win Astrobin's Image of the Day—a testament to his skill and passion.
His work not only showcases the beauty of the cosmos but also highlights Egypt's iconic landscapes under the stars, merging earthly wonders with cosmic phenomena. Omar's photographs are a gateway to the universe, offering a glimpse into the vast, swirling galaxies and sparking a sense of wonder and exploration. Through his lens, Omar not only captures the universe but also inspires others to look up and explore the infinite possibilities of the night sky.
"The Lunar Analemma"
This is the first time that this phenomenon has been imaged in EGYPT. The sequence of images was taken from 22 April to 17 May 2023. The idea of the image is that the moon returns to its same position in the sky about 50 minutes and 29 seconds later each day so I took an image of the moon 50 minutes and 29 seconds later on successive days over almost a lunar month from the same place every day. Due to the tilted elliptical orbit of the moon, this will result in a figure of "8" or an infinity sign. The journey of this image was challenging and exhausting, on top of that the sleepless nights I went through to stay awake waiting for the scheduled time to take the image of the moon. There were also some cloudy nights and I was a little lucky to see the moon through it when the time of the shoot came. I used a Canon 200 D camera with an 18 mm lens to shoot the images from the same location and I could see the moon in the images easily but last week, the time of the images was in day time, that's why you will see the moon images on these days a little blue, they were so faint but i could see them when i zoom deeply on the images, of course the details were absent so I come up with an idea to use my GOTO mount to point to the location of the moon as of course it would be impossible to see it by naked eye then I took an image of it with the help of my Redcat 51 scope then I put it on the same location of the moon on the 18 mm lens image.
Equipment used:
Camera: Canon 200 D. Lens: canon 18-55 lens - Redcat 51.
Settings:
To know the location of the moon each day, all images were taken from the same fixed place with an 18 mm lens @ F5.7, different exposure times, and iso values according to the moon phase. For details of the moon, images were taken at 55mm and for images that were taken during that time, I used the Redcat 51 at 250mm with the GOTO mount. Foreground image: ISO 100, 30 seconds, F 11.
After a long stop, I came back with great passion to put Orion into the frame of my camera so I swept the dust from my gears and headed to the desert. The mountain chosen was 50 km away from the nearest city ( you could see the city lights at the Horizon) The place was completely dark during the new moon but I managed to find a great spot to start
Equipment used:
Camera : Sony A7III Ha mod.
Lens: Sigma 24 F1.4
Sky: several subs 2 mins, iso 1250 at F2.8
Foreground: 1 shot, 25 seconds, F2.8, iso 2500.
The composition was taken on the same night same place.
Panorama image for Milky Way taken on 18th of November 2022. I drove 5 hours away from home to Dark Sky to be able to capture this image. The panorama is of 49 Panels. All images were taken about 90 minutes after sunset to be able to image a large part of the Milky Way arc with Pleiades, California, North America, Pelican, Elephant trunk, Heart, Soul, Crescent nebulas, and Sadr region. On the far right side, you could see a group of astrophotographers deploying their gears to shoot the starry sky and to the far lower left side you could see my shadow with the tripod and it reminds me of Armstrong Shadow in the very famous image of Apollo 11 mission after landing on the moon. All images were shot with the same gears in the same place on the same night.
Settings and Gears:
Camera: Sony A7 III Astro modified Ha with Sigma FE 50mm F 1.4.
49 panels, ISO 3200, F 2, 8 seconds.
Location: Wadi Elhitan, Fayoum, EGYPT.
First contact with Comet Nishimura. I drove 5 hours away from home to find a dark clear sky and wait till before dawn. The comet had only a few minutes before sunrise and it was very hard to spot it. After struggling with my tracker I finally took a few subs for the comet and blended it with the foreground where I stand during Blue Hour. I needed to climb a very steep mountain to catch this image but that was worth it.
Equipment:
Camera: Sony A7III Ha astro modified
Lens: Redcat 51
Settings:
ISO 400, 1/20 second, F 8 with sigma 1.4 lens 50 mm.
Sky: 18 subs ISO 3200, F4.9, 10 seconds.
All images (foreground and sky ) were taken during the same night in the same place.
MaashaaAllah. Allahu Akbar! So lovely. In essence, if this was the 6th of April should we expect the Eid moon on the 21st of April?
The inclination of the Earth's rotation axis causes the seasons and also the position of sunrise and sunset to change every day so the Sun rises due east and sets due west only twice per year during the equinox but changes its position along the rest of the year. Today 20th March 2024 the Earth's axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the sun, resulting in a "nearly" equal amount of daylight and darkness at all latitudes. I have photographed the sun for 12 months from a fixed place to monitor the path of the sun along the horizon. My first image was in April 2023 and I continue to shoot the sunset on the 21st day (± 2 days) of every month to show the drift of the sunset location. The image shows the summer solstice on the 21st of June as the sun sets considerably north of due west. After the summer solstice, the sun's path gradually drifts southward. By the 23rd of September, the sun is at equinox, its path is again along the celestial equator and the sun sets directly on due west. The southward drift then continues until the December solstice (22nd of December), when the sun sets considerably south of due west. After the December solstice, the sun's path drifts northward, returning to the celestial equator by the March equinox 20th of March 2024.
Equipment:
Canon 200 D
18-55 mm Canon lens
Each image is a 5-panel mosaic at 18mm, each panel is an HDR image with bracket shooting.
Settings:
ISO 100, 1/20 seconds, F8. This may differ a little due to different lighting conditions over the 12 months.
