On one occasion I discovered that there was a man who taught how to build a telescope ! I signed up immediately and spent 9 long months there gestating my first instrument . At the same time I discovered Mury , a small town in Nova Friburgo and in love with the place and the starry sky , I bought land to build a little house one day . Five months later it was installed there . I spent my nights out in the cold , marveling at the discoveries that the sky gave me . I needed protection . Thus , a rough , simple but functional dome was created , the Mury Observatory . In the past , a breadwinner , I had worked as a photographer and this desire was manifested every time I tipped the instrument into the sky . How can I photograph and convey my joy and wonder to others ? In my help came the Astrophotography Group of the Planetarium in Rio de Janeiro , led by Astronomer Fernando Vieira and whose peers were Dr . Marco Antônio DeBellis , pilot Guilherme Winter and designer Ricardo Barbosa . There I learned how to photograph the stars , instruments and everything else I needed to start in the art of astrophotography . Buying a better instrument , it was what I did with enormous sacrifice , but it was worth it . I have been there since 1995 photographing at night . I received the first international award in 1997 and then many others followed .
COURTESY OF José Carlos Diniz
Above , Diniz ’ s first observatory in Mury , a small town in Nova Friburgo . Below , Diniz ’ s new observatory , which is an enironmental preservation area with no public lighting .
Located in the Centaurus Constellation , the stunning
Omega Centauri is one of the closest globular star clusters to Earth . It is packed with millions of stars and features a very dense concentration at its core .
COURTESY OF José Carlos Diniz
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