Starry, starry night: astrophotographer Jim Miller at Winot Coffee in April

The month of April features the Pink Moon and the Lyrids meteor shower, but skywatchers need not always look up to enjoy the heavens, thanks to Jim Miller.

Miller is an astrophotographer—a photographer of celestial and astronomical events and areas of the night sky—who lives in the mountains outside of Boulder. His lifelong fascination with the stars and the night sky is his inspiration for his work.

His photos are the result of the long-exposure technique used in astrophotography, with exposure times varying from 10 to 30 hours. The process uses telescopes with special cameras designed for astronomy, as well as special filters that can capture red, green and blue lights, as well as light produced from elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and sulphur.

The photographs capture deep sky objects such as nebulas, star clusters, and galaxies. The images are then preserved on metal using dyes infused on specially coated aluminum sheets in a professional lab, which showcases the vibrant luminescence of the starry shots.

His work will be on display at Winot Coffee  in Niwot’s Cottorwood Square Shopping Center during April, and he will be giving a short talk on capturing the night sky on Sunday, April 14 at 12 pm. For more information, visit http://www.millerastropix.com or head into Winot Coffee to view his work.