Hello, and welcome. I’m Jack, and I’m a beginner astrophotography hobbyist. I’ve created this blog to document my journey as I learn about and experiment in the field of astrophotography.
About me
I’m twenty-something years old, currently living in the North West of England, placing me in the northern hemisphere. I’m a lifelong nerd and enthusiast of all things space and science. Thanks, in no small part, to being raised on Star Trek: Voyager, instead of the ‘usual’ kids TV shows.
I’m a professional web developer and spend a lot of my time working on various websites and passion projects. Outside of development, my other hobbies include playing Guitar, writing, and playing video games.
My experience so far
The first time I looked through a telescope was the 4th of February 2024. It was a clear Sunday evening. I had borrowed my Mum’s Celestron telescope so that I could ‘figure it out’ and show her the ropes of using it. After spending some time cleaning it up and learning about EQ mounts, I took it into my back garden and pointed it at the brightest star in the sky: Jupiter.
Description: Jupiter and its 4 Galilean moons, taken with a Google Pixel Pro 7 freehand through a Celestron Astromaster 90EQ telescope.
The image above was the product of around 30 minutes of stubborn perseverance. I’d angle the telescope towards Jupiter, then try to fumble my phone’s camera to point through the lens and snap a picture. With the strong wind and Jupiter being surprisingly nimble, it took a while to get this single picture, even if it was out of focus. Regardless, from that evening onwards I was utterly, and unconditionally hooked.
A month or so later, I took the same telescope to a new location and was accompanied by my Mum. We spent the evening getting close-up shots of the Moon and tried our hand at Jupiter. We struggled a little with the later sunset but, once again, I had a great time.
Fast forwarding to June 2024, I’d been reading up on astrophotography for the previous few months. After careful consideration, I decided it was something I wanted to try for myself. I took the plunge and bought myself a used Nikon D5600 on eBay. It came with its standard ‘kit’ lens (18-55mm), and all of the standard DSLR equipment you’d expect in a starter kit.
Since getting my camera, I’ve been outside to try to take pictures twice. Both times were in my garden, and both yielded drastically different results. Before going to a remote location for a dedicated photo shoot, I figured it was best to learn the ropes from home, even if the light pollution isn’t ideal. Here are my two results:
Camera: Nikon D5600
ISO-Speed: 6400
F-stop: f/5.6
Exposure time: 8 Seconds
Description: A field of stars. The brightest star in the top right quadrant is Deneb. A visible trail was left by a plane which travelled across one of the stacked images.
Camera: Nikon D5600
ISO-Speed: 800
F-stop: f/5.6
Exposure time: 15 Seconds
Description: A field of stars. The brightest star in the top right quadrant is Deneb. The Messier 39 star cluster can be seen in the bottom left quadrant. The shot is very blue, shows clouds partially covering portions of it and there are visible star trails.
And that takes us to today. I intend to write a dedicated post about the second image above. When that’s done I will link it here.
While I intend to provide full resolution images for posts dedicated to a shoot, as these are for retrospective purposes, the two images above are significantly reduced in quality for website delivery optimisation.
Plans for the future
In terms of equipment, a sturdier mount is definitely on my radar. Bonus points if it can track my targets. Once tracking is handled, swapping the lens for something telescopic is likely the next thing on my list. From there, it’s only by going out and taking photos that I’ll learn what I need.
While I believe I can get a decent amount of mileage out of my back garden for now, I’m actively searching for good, local points from which to take some pictures. With a reliable, quality location available, I’m sure lots of exciting doors will open. I’m the kind of person who will maximise the capabilities of their equipment and push things to their limits.
Plans for this blog
Whenever I go out with my camera or telescope, I’m going to write about it. The posts will vary in length and some will be stories of success, while others are not. The core principle I’m going to employ is honesty about my experiences. This will be written as a record for myself, as well as anyone else who’s interested in this exciting hobby. If you’re brand new to this yourself, you might learn something. If you’re an expert, you might be able to help me (or anyone else reading) to learn.
Anyway, that’s enough about me. Thank you for taking the time to read this introductory post. Please feel free to explore, leave comments, and bookmark this blog to follow my exciting journey.
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