Xinyu Du

Visionary Pursuit: Seizing Every Moment

Sat, 27 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A milestone moment in my photography journey: this work was officially selected as the featured hero image on the Nanjing University homepage.

Utilizing a 2-second long exposure, the image captures the brilliant lights of the Xianlin Campus at nightfall, creating a striking contrast between the warm artificial glow and the deep blue twilight. More than just an aerial photograph, it serves as a visual interpretation of the “seize the day” spirit that defines our academic life.

DJI Mini 4 Pro | 24mm f/1.7 2s ISO200

Crimson Shadow: Total Lunar Eclipse Phase Sequence

Mon, 08 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

During the total lunar eclipse, I captured the interplay of light and shadow as the Moon transitioned from the penumbra into the umbra. When the lunar surface is entirely shrouded by Earth’s umbral shadow, only long-wavelength red light—refracted through Earth’s atmosphere—reaches the lunar surface.

This striking coppery tone (often called a ‘Blood Moon’) is essentially a byproduct of Rayleigh scattering by Earth’s atmosphere, showcasing the delicate optical connection within the Earth-Moon system.

Lunar Eclipse Phase Series | Rayleigh Scattering

Celestial Trajectories: Night at the Observatory

Thu, 28 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Featuring the observation dome of the Zuo Dijiang Observatory as the foreground, this image was captured through nearly an hour of continuous exposure. The stars left perfect arcs across the frame, illustrating the diurnal motion of the celestial sphere.

The dome, acting as a window for planetary science research, stands in dialogue with the everlasting stellar trajectories in the background. With the North Celestial Pole (NCP) guiding from the upper corner, the image reveals the grand scale of Earth as a rotating inertial frame.

Zuo Dijiang Observatory, NJU | Diurnal Motion of the Celestial Sphere

Zifeng Transit: Sunspots and the Urban Horizon

Wed, 06 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This telephoto observation experiment was conducted from the rooftop of the Student Activity Center at Xianlin Campus. Using a Nikon D850, I captured a dramatic moment as the sun descended toward the horizon.

At the center of the frame is the silhouette of Nanjing’s iconic Zifeng Tower, juxtaposed against the massive solar disk where several active sunspots are clearly visible. By contrasting magnetic activities on a stellar surface with human-scale architecture, this perspective explores the visual tension between the micro and the macro, serving as an intuitive record of solar physics in action.

Sunspots silhouetted against Zifeng Tower | Nikon D850 @ 200mm

Venus and the Crescent: Messengers of Twilight

Tue, 05 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

As an inferior planet, Venus always shines brightest near dawn or dusk. During the evening’s blue hour, Venus and an exceptionally thin waxing crescent formed a sublime composition.

This apparent visual proximity is, in essence, a momentary alignment of celestial orbits from the observer’s perspective. The subtle contrast between the two objects reveals a serene and rhythmic facet of celestial mechanics.

Conjunction of Venus and the Waxing Crescent | Observation of Inferior Planets

Southern Building Halo: A Symphony of Technology and Cosmos

Tue, 29 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This project is an experimental exploration of “trajectories.” Through a precise orbital flight of a UAV, a man-made “halo” was formed around the South Building during a long exposure.

Simultaneously, the stars in the background traced subtle arcs as the Earth rotated. By juxtaposing man-made flight paths with apparent celestial motion, this composition aims to explore the futuristic aesthetic of campus architecture through a scientific lens, presenting a surreal symphony of light and time.

Trajectory Composite over South Building | Creative Photography Experiment

Yangshan Clouds: A Sunset Mirror by the Lake

Tue, 29 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Recorded by the shores of Yangshan Lake, this image captures a sunset glow with profound depth and layering.

From a physics standpoint, these magnificent colors are the result of Rayleigh scattering, occurring as the sun’s altitude angle decreases and light travels through a thicker portion of the atmosphere. The mirror reflection on the lake’s surface and the drifting clouds on the horizon form a perfect optical symmetry, showcasing the atmospheric optical charm of the natural environment surrounding our campus.

Sunset at Yangshan Lake | Atmospheric Rayleigh Scattering

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3)

Thu, 24 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The apparent magnitude of this comet had dropped significantly at the time of capture, rendering it nearly invisible to the naked eye. Only through long exposures and post-processing curve stretching were its icy nucleus and the magnificent tail, swept out by the solar wind, finally revealed.

As a typical Oort Cloud object, every visit it makes serves as a precious transmission of information regarding the early evolution of the Solar System.

C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) | Nikon D850

First Light: Inaugural Star Trails at Qiandao Lake

Mon, 26 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This marks my inaugural milestone in astronomical observation. The pristine, low-light-pollution environment of Qiandao Lake provided an exceptional Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR).

Derived from a stack of 120 exposures, the stars traced graceful concentric arcs around Polaris. This work is more than a photograph; it is a direct visualization of Earth’s rotational period.

Observation Site, Chun’an County, Qiandao Lake | Nikon D850

Pandas

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Flexible and powerful data analysis / manipulation library for Python, providing labeled data structures.

PyTorch

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

PyTorch is a Python package that provides tensor computation (like NumPy) with strong GPU acceleration.

scikit-learn

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

scikit-learn is a Python module for machine learning built on top of SciPy and is distributed under the 3-Clause BSD license.

An example preprint / working paper

Sun, 07 Apr 2019 00:00:00 +0000

This work is driven by the results in my on LLMs.

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An example journal article

Tue, 01 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000

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An example conference paper

Mon, 01 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000

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