Photographer's focus on sky

A Shropshire Star photographer has pointed his camera to the stars to capture images of the night sky for a new book showing his work - the first time his images have been published together.

Peter Shah, 38, who lives near Meifod, in Powys, has been interested in astronomy for 32 years and has had his work published in a number of magazines including the Sky at Night.

His pictures have also featured in the Shropshire Star and Shropshire Magazine.

Mr Shah, who is a member of the Shropshire Astronomical Society, has captured the book's images from his observatory.

Each picture in the book, which is called Mirror Image, takes several hours to complete and is a composite of about 30 frames.

Mr Shah said: "The pictures were taken using an eight inch Newtonian Astrograph that I have been helping develop with a UK company.

"This very modest set up shows that a window to the universe is there to all of us even with the smallest budgets."

Images in the collection include the Pinwheel Galaxy, Andromeda Galaxy and the Flaming Star Nebula.

Each image is accompanied by an informative caption explaining facts such as how the object was formed, where it appears in the sky and how far away it is from earth.

The book is self-published through Blurb Publishers and is available for £20 from www.blurb.com and will be available from Mr Shah's website.

Images from the book and other photographs can be viewed at www.astro pix.co.uk