These maps also show the path of the sun and moon movements in the sky.

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1 Window to the sky My collection is about star charts and photographs, which I collected during my astronomy class during the time I was 12 to 15 years old. Astronomy always fascinated me since I was little. Looking at the sky took away my fear of darkness, which I learned to enjoy looking at each and every single star and trying to track their movement every night. This passion made me end up in specialist astronomy course, and it was the beginning of my passion to collect star chart and take photos from star movement in the sky.

2 Concepts that make my objects a collection is how they all belong to the map of northern atmosphere constellations. All of these have been collected during my astronomy courses in between 1999 and The constellation charts are tools of finding the location of stars maps that appear above in your sky based on the date and time you are looking at the sky.

3 For instance in the above picture, is a monthly chart of northern constellations. The edge in the plastic window of this map represents the horizon, and the center is the point overhead. In order to use this chart, you first need to match the time and the month of the year you are in on your map, then hold the chart out in front of you. This then matches the star on the map with the real stars and constellations you can see in the sky. The charts in my collection are contemporary object, but the science behind it goes back more than years. The constellations of the sky chart is a way that ancient astronomer used to divide stars in the sky so it would be easier to track them. They are used to identify and locate astronomical objects such as stars and galaxies. They also have been used for navigation in long distance travels. These maps also show the path of the sun and moon movements in the sky. As stars move across the sky on a regular schedule, so in different constellations appear at sunset in different times of the year, this is based on the path earth takes through space. The constellation charts in my collection belong to the northern hemisphere which the naming and movement of constellations are deeply rooted in Greek culture. There is a total of 88 recognized constellations and 12 of them are zodiacs. The zodiac constellations are different from the other 76, because they cross the path of eclipse, which is the path that our solar system travels each year. Because ancient Greeks thought these constellations are touched by sun in their path, so Babylonian astronomers afterward thought they were significantly important. All the constellations are named by Greeks, and these names came from their mythology and stories of heroes and legends. These stories usually involve angry gods and mysterious beings.

4 The second part of my collection is about capturing some of famous constellation trails in the northern atmosphere. The northern Polaris star located in the constellation Ursa Minor and it is the last star in the end of the little dipper handles. The earth rotates once a day on its axis. If you imagine a line passing through the earth from its north pole to its south pole and continue this to the sky, it will almost point to the northern star. As a result, when the earth spins on its axis it feels all the stars are spinning around the northern star. Therefore, if you have a proper manual camera you can photograph star trails. For me in order to get these photos back in my country, I travelled frequently to the desert out of the city on some cold and dry nights. It had to be cold and dry because there is better incoming light from the sky, which means I could have the stars much sharper in my photos. I also needed those nights with no moon, as I had to keep my camera s shutter open for a long duration. The moon light could kill the light of the stars and my photos would be completely

5 over exposed. It was not easy to get a good result at the time as no digital cameras were around. You would have to stay up all night waiting for your target constellation to rise up, then try your best and be hopeful that you will get a good result after developing your film. While shooting, you should not turn any light on around the camera and walking around it. That could damage your shot. This means all shooting needed to be done in pitch black. My camera was a Zenit mm Film SLR Camera. The maximum number of photos I could capture each time was only 32 frames. Each photo is a result of 10 to 20 minutes of exposure, with the camera aperture of 2 to 2.8 and a bold shutter speed. Often each session would take all night. I hope I can capture and add more star trails to my collection, but in order to do so, I need to start studying the southern hemisphere sky as the constellations in this part of the world are completely different. In addition, as photography technology has completely changed from the time I captured these photos, I need to study new technology and adapt myself to new techniques of photography. This will be challenging and exciting. My collection has been placed in the exhibition area in the foyer of building number 76. References: