The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), NASA, and the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) are collaborating on the "Capture the Colorful Cosmos" astrophotography project. This program has given members of the public online access to the CfA’s MicroObservatory robotic telescopes, to take and colorize their own images of stars and galaxies the same way that professional astronomers do. More than 100 educators participated in online training workshops. Approximately two dozen museums, nature centers, libraries, and other informal education organizations ran public workshops in their communities that resulted in exhibitions of original visitor-created astrophotography displays. These images and displays have been seen by thousands of visitors across the country.

Here are some featured photos from Capture the Colorful Cosmos.

Morehead Planetarium, Chapel Hill, NC

Click here to see a photo of visitors enjoying theColorful Cosmos display!

Kansas City School District, Kansas City, MO

Click here to see a photo of students using MicroObservatory!

Kopernik Observatory, Vestal, NY

Click here to see a photo of visitors' astro-postcard created using MicroObservatory!

Drake Planetarium, Cincinnati, OH

Click here to see a photo of students using LEGOS to explore pixel values on electronic images!

Click here to see the exhibit display showing MicroObservatory images and LEGO sculptures!

Montvalo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA

Click here to see a visitor's image of spiral galaxy M33 taken with MicroObservatory!

The Astronomical League, Cleveland, OH

Click here to see a Girl Scout choosing filters and exposure time for her observation!

Natural color RGB images taken by MicroObservatory users

Orion Nebula (Fall 2009)

Dumbbell Nebula (Summer 2009)

Orion Nebula (Summer 2009)

More to come!

Website last updated: June 22, 2009