My name is Magnus Gålfalk and I'm a PhD student here at Stockholm Observatory.

What fascinates me most about Astronomy is the observational part, especially at optical and infrared wavelengths. I have been working in projects that has to do with star formation and young stars, using both ground based observations and from space (the ISO satellite).

Astro imaging

I especially like Astro imaging which is a really rewarding hobby and a great way to "get to know the universe" in more ways than through formulas alone :-)

I've been observing the night sky with binoculars and telescopes since I was about 15 years old and took my first astro image back in 1997.
It was the open star cluster M44, using the Stockholm observatory 1 metre reflector in Saltsjöbaden.

In 1998 we replaced the old CCD camera with a much better one and for about 4 years time I used this setup to try to make as nice images as possible - improving both my observational and reduction techniques - resulting in an astro gallery.

After becoming a PhD student I've been using much larger telescopes, like the 2.5 metre NOT (Nordic Optical Telescope). The images to the left were taken with this telescope, located on a mountain top in the canary islands. I've been using several cameras on the NOT in visible, near-infrared and thermal infrared light. The Moon image was made from observations in the thermal IR using SIRCA. See the NOT image gallery for some more of my images.

Hobbies (except for Astronomy)

Playing the drums, music, photography, traveling and hm... trying to learn the german language :-o but there's only so much one can learn from watching Kommissar Rex :-)

Judging from my iPod I like to listen to Genesis, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, R.E.M., Sting, Falco, Keane, Lene Marlin, Natasha Bedingfield, Nik Kershaw, Travis... well, you get the idea!