Astrophotography Gallery

My interest in astrophotography dates back to when I was a wee lad in the 7 – 9 year range and I happened across a grainy, fuzzy image of the magnificent Sombrero Galaxy in one of my astronomy books. If I recall correctly, the picture was captured on film through the historic 60 inch reflector atop Mt. Wilson in the San Gabriel mountains of California. That was it for me, one day I had to do that.

But life intervenes, department store telescopes on rickety wooden mounts get lost in attics, and childhood interests and hobbies fade. Like many aging boomers, however, these obsessions resurface later in life with some disposable income lying around; why do you think Lego sales are at an all- time high, and it isn’t the kiddies buying them.

What happened in my latent years was that technology made leaps and bounds and became affordable to the average JoLo looking to image these celestial gems from his or her back yard. In particular, imaging sensors and microchips digitized amateur astrophotography, allowing backyard astrophotographers to produce images better than the Sombrero photo that inspired me all those years ago. With modest equipment and healthy doses of persistence, determination and patience, I can finally say I can do dat.

Sure is a big universe out there!