Mounting a telescope on the balcony at home, Wang Zhipu, a 16-year-old boy from Fujian province, observes the skies, takes photos and begins his voyage into space after class. Recently, bis efforts were rewarded when he won the title of" Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2021" in the Royal Observatory Greenwich's annual astrophotography contest. His winning entry, entitled Family Photo of the Solar System, shows seven of the eight planets lined up horizontally, with the sun on the left and moon on the right, both pictured larger in size than normal.
"All families are unconventional, so I adored this fresh, gently playful concept around the solar system/' said the competition judge Sue Prichard while talking about Wang's picture. meaningful, technically accomplished work from a rising star of astronomical photography."
It hasn't been easy taking pictures of outer space. For about half a year. Wang had to calculate the best time to shoot planets when they're opposite the sun in Earth's sky to get the brightest images. What's more, he still needed to wait for clear weather to see better. For example, to capture a clear picture of Mercury, the planet closest to the sun, which is often cited as the most difficult of the five brightest planets to see with the naked eye, Wang med to shoot it three times in the early morning but failed. At sunset, he shot 10,000 frames of video and selected several thousand better frames to overlay, further refine them and form a more satisfactory picture.
Sometimes, Wang would be so absorbed in his observations that he wouldn't go downstairs to fetch a coat even in the middle of winter. Other times, he stood for hours under the burning sun to get the perfect shot. To get an ideal shot, he often gets up at dawn, sleeps early to wake up at midnight, and even takes time off from evening classes when necessary.