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In today’s post, a 10-minute read, I
· Outline why astronomy and
astrophotography are so interesting
· ‘Sketch out’ my thinking behind the
blog and how I hope it will evolve over the next few years
1.
Why do I find astronomy and astrophotography so interesting?
The creation
of a stunning astro image fascinates me. The mystery of its appearance, location
and formation in our night sky is intriguing. Am I similarly grabbed and
engrossed by the way my camera and telescope work? Not really! Sorry! Do I
enjoy technical aspects like learning new apps, software and developing
observing and astrophotography rigs? Yes! Absolutely! I am a little ‘techie
geek’. Linking up an ASIair and star tracker, delightful! Positively enthralling!
Am I
artistic? Sort of! I thoroughly enjoy the creative aspects of developing an
astro image from stacked data. Do I do it well? No! It’s a
love/hate/frustrating relationship with Affinity Photo, SIRIL, Sequator and
GraXpert! Post editing in Affinity Photo, the Devils work frankly! A painful
necessity on the way to producing a work of art! But don’t lose heart. I have
mastered the basics of SIRIL, GRaXpert etc quite quickly because, and here is
the key point, so much of these programs are one click icon tools, involving AI
automation of complex tasks. And, bonus, there are so many decent YouTube
tutorials to accompany them as well.
You will
have noted from my equipment list in post two, that I opted for a reasonably
priced first telescope with GPS GOTO capability. It tracks my selected deep sky
object and is controlled from my smartphone. I can still learn the basics of
star hopping celestial navigation and where possible I tend to do this most
nights out. But, I’m not adverse to using the simple, convenient GOTO
technology on occasions. The navigator bit within me thoroughly loves doing the
celestial star hopping navigation stuff during observing astronomy sessions ad
that will never change but to be truly honest, I lean more towards the
astrophotography bit more than just the visual. Will I go down the route of a
dwarf S30 imaging scope? Not my cup of tea. That's too automation for me. But
who knows?
"What
about the astrophysics ‘spacey’ knowledge?"
Yes, I like
learning the basics behind universe structures and processes but I’m not
obsessive about this. Just need enough to understand the processes behind the
formation of the object I have just observed or photographed. Could I talk much
on relativity, gravity wells, black holes, dark matter or thermodynamics. Nope!
Will I ever be able to? Nope! Can’t retain it all!
Do I stand
under a clear sky and marvel at the heavens above me? Always!
All my
ancestors before me who have walked beneath the same skies and, like me, just
marvelled at the vast incomprehensible universe above. Ancestors, who through
the course of time, have wondered and been enthralled by scientific space
related discoveries of their particular time. To be able to understand now,
that when I stare at a distant star, I am looking back in time. Galactic time
travel! Light years! How lucky and privileged am I to exist in this age of
great space exploration? 13 billion years of universe evolution being
scrutinised, explored, thought about, and valued. How JWST and Vera Rubin allow
us to explore beyond our own galaxy to distant galaxies that were formed
billions of years ago in the past. The age of reusable space craft. The
extraordinary contribution of the ISS. Voyager craft out into interstellar
space! Should we be actually doing any of this exploration of the heavens and
search for extra-terrestrial life elsewhere in the universe – well there’s a
philosophical question up for discussion at another time!
Here is the
thing about astronomy and astrophotography - it’s a hobby, a rabbit hole
we can disappear down. We make it as simple or as complex as we like. I gain
great delight from just arriving on a night location site for a simple milky
way shoot with just a DSLR camera, wide angle lens, tripod and intervalometer
in my backpack. I get the same thrill, operating from the back of the car, with
a rig that includes a small refractor scope, an autoguiding system, a narrow
band filter, various power supplies and the same DSLR camera - chasing down an
elusive deep sky object in the heavens above. The joy of just setting up a
large Newtonian and red dot finder and star hopping from one constellation to
the next; selecting just the right eyepiece to view Jupiter and its moons?
Wonderful. And, back home, stacking the data gained that night. The first
appearance of an image. The post editing frustrations and revelations as I
stretch the data. Such happiness.
And it has
been made all the more special when I have attended outreach programmes down at
my local beach; put on by members of Plymouth Astronomical Society. I’ve
learned a lot just seeing their equipment and listening to their talks and
passion about various night time astronomical events. And soon, I will be
taking the next big step – joining the society and attending their monthly
university night meetings.
Out beneath
a clear sky. No wind. No clouds. No light pollution. Just me, wrapped in peace
and quiet. The monotonous clicking of the camera as it builds up a ‘lights’
library of data. The faint whir of the tracker as it makes its infinitesimal
movements. The rustle of a bush by a slinking fox. The snorts and snuffles of a
passing hedgehog. The pleasure of pre-planning an observing or astro shoot
session - weather, moon, seasons, access, safety, equipment needs, clothing and
food requirements, interrogating Astrobin; soliciting advice on a target on
forums like Cloudy Nights. I am a ‘researcher’ at heart. Learning new shooting
or observing techniques. Going solo or taking a friend along, me imaging
and my friend using the telescope to explore the heavens above.
It is all
rather calming. A detox from the pressures of daily life. That logical
challenge of star hopping to find the target for the night or working out an
appropriate shooting sequence. The frequent frustrations of balancing the
tracker, polar aligning and problem solving the ‘falling out internet
connection’ between tracker and ASIair! All part of the exquisite experience
and magnetism of astronomy and astrophotography isn’t it!
Wow, that
was a lot. Sorry. Offloaded there a little. By now after the first two posts,
you should be gaining a fair insight into who I am and what makes me tick. So, let’s move on; and next I will sketch out
what I want this blog to be about
1.
My thinking behind the blog and how I hope it will evolve
over the next few years
There are so
many other really good, well -established astronomy and astrophotography blogs
out there so why start another one? Fair question. Here’s my answer.
I want
this blog to be a blog for beginners to astronomy and astrophotography, written
by a beginner on his own learning journey; a blog for other beginners, written
by a beginner! A blog for people like me, who, three years ago when I
started photography, astronomy and astrophotography from scratch, knew nothing
about any of these topics. Nada! Nowt! A blog resource which shares
information and visuals, stimulates awe and wonder, and has a particular niche.
It helps beginners get quick successes; they feel they are making progress
early on in their new learning journey. But, there will be tough times ahead,
as I have discovered all too often. When we don’t get a clear sky for months.
When our equipment won’t work! When we struggle to work out what equipment to
use or get in the future. When we get our settings wrong and waste a
night’s shooting data. When YouTube tutorials seem so overwhelming, we lose
sight of the trees in the wood, so to speak. Mistakes just come thick and fast
one after another. There will be times like this. So, to help overcome this,
another aim. I want to create a repository of ‘quick guides’ for
beginners to access. To get us all up and running more quickly. So,
step by step guides on equipment, techniques, processing methods, important
astronomical concepts etc.
And finally?
I
want a ‘safe’ space, where we beginners can ask any question within a
supportive community where people share experiences, advice and images
without fear of criticism, ridicule or confusion. There are plenty of Facebook
forums where we can already do this and in a future blog I will do a post on my
favourite forums. But, perhaps like me, you have discovered that the issue with
many worthwhile forums is that you can spend so much time trying to get
detailed answers and guidance to issues you are facing. You know the problem.
Ask a question on a forum and you will get loads of helpful replies but also
myriads of unintentionally contradictory advice and instruction. How often have
I’ve left a forum, more confused after asking a question? How many hours of sifting
through answers to get a clear idea of what to do have I spent afterwards? I
want to cut this down for future beginners. A blog with simple’
start-out’ advice which works. Gets you up and running quickly with the basics
from the get-go. A blog that motivates and encourages others through me
sharing my learning journey; discussion of my achievements, setbacks and
progress through ‘challenges’.
One last
point, from a purely selfish viewpoint, I want this blog to be a
creative outlet for my ‘poor’ artistic interpretations of night landscapes and
deep space object photography. A showcase of my own perspectives,
styles, interpretations which prompt discussion and self-improvement. I
would very much like it if other likeminded people also shared their imagery
and thinking as well. I want learning and self-improvement to be at
the heart of this blog.
Oh yes, a
word to the wise! I’m not into monetisation. I don’t write blogs to earn
anything! I don’t fret about subscriber numbers or page counts and likes. No
subscribers, or only one, I will continue to write this blog just for the fun
of it. A self-improvement diary so to speak! It was what made my ‘Arwen’s
Meanderings’ dinghy cruising blog so successful. Anyway, got this
point out there. Hope it reassures you as to my intent and purpose.
A summary
then of aims and growth plans for this blog
· A blog for beginners
· A resource and repository sharing
things like ‘quick ‘start out guides’, ‘how-to’s’, ‘equipment reviews’,
‘editing tips and tricks’ etc
· One helping beginners achieve early
progress successes in basic skills, knowledge and understanding through discussion,
constructive analysis and self-improvement
· A ‘safe’ space, where we beginners
can ask any questions within a supportive, friendly community
· A blog that motivates and encourages
others based on me sharing of my learning journey; discussion of my
achievements, setbacks and progress through challenges; with others joining in
· A creative showcase outlet not only for
my interpretations of the night sky, be it milky way or deep space objects, but
also for others; a showcase that stimulates discussion and self-improvement for
all participants
· A non-monetised blog unburdened by
worries about subscriber numbers or page hit counts
· Readers feel it is engaging, useful,
relatable, empathetic to their needs, transparent, honest and hands-on
Why not drop
me a comment, tip or discussion point in the box below this post?
Is this
the kind of blog content that you would find helpful?
What
other content would you like to see?
As always,
take care out there, clear skies and have lots of fun.
Steve
