Remembering Erwin Vandervelden

[PeterM]

Hello to everyone who remembers Erwin,

It has now been some five years since Erwin Vandervelden passed away at just 39 years of age, still miss him and his 2am equipment tantrums at Leyburn, very much sounding like the dutch chef from the Muppets.

I just received this email from Erwin's sister Ilse in Holland, and wanted to share it. It is indeed a fitting tribute to a pioneering astro imager. I have posted it under Planetary as a tribute to his superb planetary imaging.
Please visit the sites remembering a past member of Ice In Space

PeterM.

For anybody who might be interested:
For a long time I had an idea to make a website with Erwin's astrophotographs. He had a homemade website with his planetary images. So, now there is also one with all his astrophotographs. The new website can be found on the following link:

www.erwinvandervelden.nl

His own homemade website can be found on this link:

www.ilsevandervelden.nl

I already have some updates in my mind, but this is a start. So when you find some bugs, spelling-mistakes, and so on or you would like to make some other remarks, please let me know.

Best regards,
Ilse

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

I remember on my first year at astrofest at around 3 or 4 am I heard a hell of a commotion coming from over near the observing field . I wandered over and I remember hearing someone stomping and muttering loudly. This was my first time sight of Erwin in shorts and shirt (I was rugged up to the nines) walking around his scope throwing his arms up in the air and cursing. It was a funny site, especially seeing as we seemed to be the only ones around that area and he didn't realize I was watching

[telecasterguru (Frank)]

The site is a lovely tribute.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Thanks Peter.
I often wonder what he what he would be amazing us with now.

[erick (Eric)]

Sounds like Erwin was a very striking character. He certainly took very nice images and such a wide range of subjects! Great to keep the memories alive.

[allan gould]

Thanks for posting the site Peter. Unfortunately I started going to Leyburn after his death and never met him, but I am well aware of his contributions to imaging. An excellent amateur that certainly pushed the boundaries with a dedicated passion.

[Paul Haese]

I never met him but his images were in many ways ahead of the whole field. His images in DSLR were as good or better than most of us using cooled CCD's now. One can only imagine what his images would be like now. Nice site Peter and great examples of his work.

[alan meehan (Alan)]

Thanks for posting this site Peter. some very good photos and such a good range ,i met Erwin a few times on my trips to duckadang he was always such a busy astronomer. A fine tribute

[iceman (Mike)]

Beautiful website, Ilse. A fitting tribute. He certainly was well ahead of the curve with his stunning planetary and deep space photography.

Thanks for posting, Peter.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Mind blowing when you look at the dates and equipment this work was made with.