PetaPixel Shooting the Stars from the Most Light-Polluted Country in the World

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Singapore is known to be the most light-polluted city on Earth, so it’s not exactly the go-to destination for astrophotography. But there are talented astrophotographers working on the island city-state, and this 3-minute documentary titled “Galactic Paint” is about one of them.

Made by Singapore-based documentary storyteller Ong Kah Jing of OKJ Works, the film features amateur photographer Ivan Bok.

The stars may be shrouded by the city lights in a place like Singapore, but Bok overcomes this by capturing multiple hours of light over multiple nights from his low-rise balcony window and then piecing the imagery together into clear views of galactic wonders.

Here’s a selection of photos Bok has made:

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The Statue of Liberty Nebula (NGC 3576) is an emission nebula located in the constellation of Carina, positioned between the much brighter Carina Nebula and Lambda Centauri Nebula. If you look into the centre of the loop-like structure, you can clearly see where it gets its name from. Shot from my home window at Toa Payoh, Singapore in Jan/Feb this year. About 6 hours of total exposure. #astro #astronomy #astrophotography #astroimaging #nebula #stars #star #space #galaxy #telescope #deepsky #milkyway #stargazing #cluster #singapore #toapayoh #supernova #hypernova #hubble #nasa

A post shared by Ivan Bok (@ivanbokastro) on Oct 27, 2019 at 6:29am PDT​

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The Eagle Nebula (M16) is an emission nebula in the constellation of Serpens. At the heart of the nebula lies the famous "Pillars of Creation", which are column-like structures with active star formation. Compared to my other narrowband images, this image has a very short total integration of only 3 hours. I've also experimented with a new narrowband mapping scheme using a HOO+SHO blend. Shot from my home at Toa Payoh, Singapore. APM LZOS 130 f/6 @f/4.5, Atik 16200M #astro #astronomy #astrophotography #astroimaging #nebula #stars #star #space #galaxy #telescope #deepsky #milkyway #stargazing #cluster #eaglenebula #m16 #messier #pillarsofcreation #singapore #toapayoh #supernova #hypernova #hubble #nasa

A post shared by Ivan Bok (@ivanbokastro) on Oct 19, 2019 at 12:22am PDT​

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The Grand Carina Nebula is the brightest nebula in the night sky, outshining even the more well-known Orion Nebula. In Singapore, the Carina Nebula rises only to a maximum altitude of 30 degrees over the Southern Horizon, but due to its sheer brightness, even a short exposure reveals its entire extended structure. This was shot from my home window at Toa Payoh, Singapore, through SII, HA and OIII narrowband filters. Roughly 4 hours of integration #astro #astronomy #astrophotography #astroimaging #nebula #stars #star #space #galaxy #telescope #deepsky #milkyway #stargazing #cluster #ngc3372 #etacarina #carina #carinanebula #singapore #toapayoh #supernova #hypernova

A post shared by Ivan Bok (@ivanbokastro) on Oct 2, 2019 at 3:57am PDT​

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The War and Peace Nebula (NGC 6357) is an emission nebula located in the constellation of Scorpius. Here, the object is represented in a narrowband palette using SII, HA and OIII filters. The image has a total exposure integration of 12.4 hours, shot over the months of June, July and August 2019 from my home window at Toa Payoh, Singapore. Telescope: APM LZOS 130 at f/4.5 Camera: Atik 16200M with Chroma NB filters #astro #astronomy #astrophotography #astroimaging #nebula #stars #galaxy #telescope #deepsky #milkyway #stargazing #cluster #ngc6357 #lobsternebula #scorpius #singapore #toapayoh

A post shared by Ivan Bok (@ivanbokastro) on Sep 30, 2019 at 3:21am PDT​

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Bathed in Eternal Daylight: Omega Centauri is the largest and brightest globular cluster in the Milky Way. Comprising of some 10 million stars packed into a region just about 100 light years across, any planet orbiting a star in this object will never experience night. At the centre of the cluster is thought to be a black hole weighing 40,000 times the mass of the sun. Shot with APM LZOS 130 and Atik 16200M CCD Camera from my home window at Toa Payoh, Singapore. #astro #astronomy #astrophotography #astroimaging #windowastrophotography #nebula #stars #galaxy #telescope #deepsky #milkyway #stargazing #cluster #globular #omegacentauri #centaurus #singapore #toapayoh

A post shared by Ivan Bok (@ivanbokastro) on Sep 27, 2019 at 7:12am PDT​

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A Celestial Rose: The Rosette Nebula is an emission nebula located in the constellation of Monoceros. As its name suggests, it bears a striking resemblance to a rose when viewed top-down. Like many other emission nebulae, it derives its strong red hue from the presence of ionised hydrogen, which are also correlated with active star formation. This image is one of the first CCD images which I ever took, and was done in a HOO narrowband bicolour palette. This was shot near my home at Toa Payoh, Singapore, although it was before I began my window astrophotography adventures. Shot with FS60C at f/6.2, ST8300M CCD camera and ZEQ25GT mount. #astro #astronomy #astrophotography #astroimaging #nebula #stars #galaxy #telescope #deepsky #milkyway #stargazing #cluster #NGC2244 #rosettenebula #rose #ccd #monoceros #singapore #toapayoh #cosmos #universe

A post shared by Ivan Bok (@ivanbokastro) on Sep 17, 2019 at 4:17am PDT​

You can follow along with Bok’s work on his website, Twitter, and Instagram.

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