I decided back in 2022 that my weird middle aged white guy hobby was going to be astrophotography, which is a great way to spend a lot of money being cold and cranky.

I’ve come a long way in just under two years, but I have – as predicted – spent a lot of money. I started things out with a pretty cheap telescope and held my smartphone up to the eyepiece. This was reasonable, because if it turned out I hated the whole process, I would not have laid out large sums for no reason.

I wanted more, so I bought another telescope, much larger. And then I got my first digital “smart” telescope. Now I have two.

I took my first images of the Sun in August, and the experience was quite a bit more rewarding than I’d been expecting. The Dayball is pretty interesting to look at. Who knew?

Galaxies and nebulae are really where it’s at, as far as I’m concerned. You see those images from Webb and they really boggle the mind. The featured image at the top of this post is nowhere near the quality of a JWST image, looking more like something out of 2006’s The Fountain.

But I’ve gotten a few that I’m reasonably happy with. I’m still learning a lot, and the biggest area of opportunity is in processing. Which, to be completely honest, I have virtually no interest in.

I just want to set up my equipment and look at some stars on crisp nights. The smart telescope can snap some pictures while I piddle around with different eyepieces and Barlow combinations on my big Newtonian. Throw in a steamy beverage or glass of wine, and perhaps wrap me in a blanket and play some stirring music. You know. Simple things.

Anyway, here’s some more pictures I took:

I’m garbage at file naming, so… I believe that very first image is Betelgeuse but I could be literally light years off. The second is NGC 5194, the whirlpool galaxy (with bonus meteor streak – the diagonal below it) The third is the Orion Nebula. Four and six are obviously the moon. The fifth image shows M81 and M82, a pair of galaxies which appear quite close to one another in Earth’s sky.

And, if you’re interested, the evolution of that featured image up top as I tinkered with the processing to bring out those Fountain-like colors:

There will be more posts like this. And, should you take pity on me (and the unbelievably patient Sydney) or be really interested in seeing more pictures from me when you can get better from NASA, you could funnel a little cash my way by picking up a book or two.