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ArtdeCiel.com ... ArtdeCiel.com grew out of an obvious need for a ‘Google’ or ‘Facebook’ for Astrophotographers. It is a ‘one stop’ portal where those interested in taking images and photographs of ‘the art of heaven’ can go; somewhere to: • Find out how to take these wonderful images; • Share their images with others; • Access Astrophotography and Astronomical Imaging resources; • Search online Databases of Deep Space Objects and other potential imaging targets; • Learn new imaging acquisition and processing techniques; • Read reviews of equipment – telescopes, cameras, CCDs, mounts & piers, software etc; • Ask questions on about anything to do with Astrophotography. • Pass the time when the clouds and rain come!   Biography ... Hello, my Name is Stefan Hughes, the owner, creator (and web designer) of ArtdeCiel.com. I have been observing the night sky since I was 12 years old, when I got my first telescope a small 3.5" Reflector, which to be honest was 'pretty useless'. I then got my first serious telescope three years later - a 6" (15cm) equatorially mounted Newtonian Reflector, which I used to look mainly at the moon and planets. I was so taken with Astronomy that I decided to make it his career, though ironically becoming a theoretical astronomer. After graduating from Leicester University with a 1st Class Honours Degree in Astronomy, I went onto to Post Graduate Research, specializing in the field of Celestial Mechanics spending much of my time travelling between the Royal Aircraft Establisment, Farnborough and the University of Cincinnati, being a student of Desmond King-Hele (RAE) and the late Andre Deprit (Cincinnati). In 1978 I was awarded a PhD for a thesis on the motion of Artificial Earth Satellites, which was published as a series of papers in the "Proceedings of the Royal Society of London'. After spells as a NASA Research Fellow working on Artificial Satellite Orbit Determination Software and Lecturer in Mathematics at London University I moved into the world of Computers when work became scarce in Astronomy, spending a number of years as a Software Designer, and later Project Manager. During this time I drifted out of Astronomy, concentrating on my new career and raising a family. In 2001 I moved to the island of Cyprus with my wife, and am now semi-retired devoting the majority of my time to his rekindled enthusiasm for Astronomy and in particular to Deep Space Astrophotography, and of course the 'Art de Ciel' website.   The Future ... ArtdeCiel.com will always be ‘work in progress. It will continue to evolve, new pages, new resources, improved online databases, added features and extra member benefits. It is also my intention to promote the wonderful images taken by members to a wider audience and in particular to market the best of them as ‘art of heaven’ just like any other type of art media. If successful in this aim ArtdeCiel.com will within the next few months have its own ‘online’ shop where people can purchase limited edition copies of selected member images. The proceeds of these sales will be given to their owners. You never know – you may even make money out of your hobby!