The people I’ve met who are more than armchair astronomers fall into two categories: observers and astrophotographers. The latter combine a passion for astronomy with photography to make dazzling images of distant objects in the night sky. Adam Block is one of the best of them, and people are starting to notice.
Recently, the Santa Barbara Instrument Group awarded Block its Award for Excellence in Astronomical Imaging and named him to its astrophotography Hall of Fame. The board chose Block as the 11th recipient of the prize.
Adam joined Steward Observatory in July 2007 to build new public astronomy programs at the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter, a one-of-a-kind science facility run by the College of Science atop 9,157-foot Mount Lemmon in the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson.
Block, along with observatory mountain operations staff, installed a new 24-inch RC Optical Systems Ritchey-Chrétien telescope equipped with a Santa Barbara Instrument Group STL-11000M CCD camera for the SkyCenter’s “SkyNights” public observing program 4 months ago.
For 10 years before arriving at Steward Observatory, Block was the lead observer for nighttime astronomy public programs at Kitt Peak National Observatory. He assisted visitors in taking more than 1,500 deep-sky images and took many more of his own.
“My philosophy of imaging is to try to highlight an aspect of an object that is either intriguing or new,” Adam said. “Each image tells a story and offers an experience for the viewer. My rules for processing images are to globally enhance the image and selectively correct artifacts when necessary. In addition, I strive for a natural appearance for the image. My philosophy is, if you can tell what I did to create the image, then I didn't do a very good job.”
Adam has been one of Astronomy’s most consistent contributors since I took over as photo editor in 2003, and he’s one of the best. I would place Adam easily in the top five imagers on Earth, without reservation. And, while I try not to overuse his images, when I need a shot of a deep-sky object for a story, Adam's folder is one of the first places I look. I’ve even used his photos in books I’ve written, such as The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Amateur Astronomy.
Another cool thing Adam did was produce a DVD series called Making Every Pixel Count. It explains how to use processing software like Photoshop to transform raw deep-space images into picture postcards of the universe.
Since January, Adam has been the manager and telescope operator for Timothy Ferris’ Seeing in the Dark Internet Telescope, a National Science Foundation-funded program that is available free to teachers and students. Block takes images of deep-sky objects that students and teachers request.
The International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center recently approved naming a main belt asteroid as 172525 Adamblock. Astronomy contributing editor David Healy of Sierra Vista, Arizona, discovered the asteroid October 4, 2003, and dedicated it to Block, who, Healy said, “has helped popularize astronomy through public speaking and his masterful astronomical photographs.”
I couldn’t agree more.
Editor's note: The University of Arizona talked with Senior Editor Michael Bakich about Adam Block's work and quoted him in their release, "SkyCenter Astronomer Honored for Astrophotography"