Banker's nebula snap wins NASA award

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 11 - A photo of a nebula by an Umbrian bank clerk with a passion for astro-photography has won NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day award.
    Francesco Radici, 43, told the local council in Città di Castello that "it gave me great satisfaction".
    "It is in fact the culmination of a complex and sometimes difficult path, which began five years ago, when I became passionate about this particular branch of photography and bought my first dedicated equipment." The awarded photo portrays the dark nebula LDN 1355, called Helping Hand Nebula, in the constellation of Cassiopeia, about 3,000 light years away from us.
    "It was the result of 20 hours of filming taken during the nights of October 31 and November 1, from the Altotiberine Umbrian countryside, around Pietralunga, in search of a sufficiently dark sky (increasingly rare to find, due to the growing light pollution caused by excessive public and private lighting), which allowed me to capture this subject, particularly difficult given its faint brightness, Radici told the council. (ANSA).