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I think there are almost as many answers to this that there are astrophotographers... I've been trying to capture the night sky and it's objects since the 70:ies and even if it sometimes been a rocky road I'm still doing it. For me it is about 70% that I like the images that I capture but most of them (around 95%) stays on a harddrive in my computer or NAS. Some I share with friends on Instagram or Facebook, some on my webpage or even uploads to Astrobin. Of course my worst enemies can see them there too. 10% is the challange of astrophotography and evoling my own experience and technique 10% is the hard core technical aspect of this hobby with sensors, optics and other crazy stuff (yes I'm a nerd) 9% of the motivation is that I find it relaxing to watch and explore the sky. 1% identifying new object and in the event it is an hostile alien spacecraft I will get to name the alien race before they; a) enslave the humanity b) use their cookbook [on us] c) use their big probes [on us] For me astrophotography is one of my major hobbies. Others are riding my motorcycles, kajaking, horses, computers and some 100 or 200 more ;) |
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It's hard to say but I suspect it's the challenge at the end of the day. Prior to the start of this year, I had never used any high dollar cameras. Hadn't ever touched a DSLR camera, and other applications like photoshop were, to say the least, alien to me. Fast forward 8 months or so, and more money invested than I should have so quickly, it's a challenge that is both fun, and rewarding. Do 'likes' make me feel good about my limited knowledge and effort I've poured into something? Sure. But for me I guess it's my own personal growth, instead. There's something peaceful about being outside by myself, the equipment, and nothing else that can bother me at that exact moment aside from any technical issues that may happen. I don't post my images, nor even have Instagram or any of that sort. I do post some on Facebook, but it's all private and limited to my own friends/family (and a couple of coworkers enjoy them) and a select couple of astro groups on there, but it's never been my attempt at 'wow'ing a large audience. I don't personally possess the knowledge, money, or equipment to keep up with what some invest into this hobby, so thankfully it doesn't really bother me on that front. When I look at an image from when I started, until now, and then the random message I may get asking about what it is, or anything related to it, that's what does it for me. |
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| Just love the dark skies. One amazing night at 10yo was enough till now with 48yo...never seen another dark starry night since then. Without money, and without fancy equipment. Actually now I have any gear. Ill persevere "against all odds"... just like Phil. |
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Short answer - because it is fun ! Just think that your astro-images will allow both yourself and others to visually "see" objects that cannot be seen through a visual telescope. Additionally, you produce images for yourself first - then for others. Not the other way around. |
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| I started getting interested over 50 years ago when I was a teenager. At that time I could only dream of being able to photograph what I was seeing. Unfortunately, imaging was really beyond what I could accomplish with a manual-driven 60 mm refractor and film camera. As a result, I did not continue the hobby once I went to college but I did maintain an interest and occasionally bought a Sky and Telescope or Astronomy magazine. Then about 20 years ago, when my wife and I purchased a house in an area with moderately dark skies, my interest in amateur astronomy and astrophotography was rekindled. I purchased a telescope with a tracking mount. Unfortunately, I still couldn't take a satisfying photograph with a film camera so after a year or two of trying I put the telescope away. Then around 10 years ago, after I had replaced my film camera with a DSLR, I decided to try again to see if digital made a difference. Boy, did it. My first target was the Orion Nebula and I was astounded that I could actually capture an image with just a 30-second exposure. Looking back at it now, I am almost embarrassed that I actually sent that blue and red blob of an image to friends. Thankfully, though, I didn't have Astrobin photos to compare it to so I was not discouraged but motivated to learn more, and of course, ultimately to buy more. Now while I still can't compete with the best at Astrobin I enjoy competing with myself and those images I saw in Sky and Telescope decades ago. I also thoroughly enjoy the process of capturing deepspace and solar system images and then learning more about the targets that I have imaged. I do need some feedback from sharing so I post on Astrobin and, if I think I have an interesting one, I will share it on my FB page with my non-astronomically minded friends and family. The latter usually gives me very positive feedback. - My bottom line advice is if, at any time, you stop enjoying the process and find the expense not worth it then simply stop doing it and don't worry about it. You can always get back into it if and when your interest and financial situation combine to lead you back. |
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I became interested in astronomy in general in 1989 when Voyager 2 did its pass of Neptune. It was aired live through the Quantum TV series on ABC here in Australia (I think I still have the recording on VHS somewhere). In the 1990s my dad bought my brother and I my / our first telescope - a generic brand refractor of about 50mm aperture - it was stuck to its flimsy mount and the eyepiece could not be changed, but that's how I first saw the rings of Saturn and the Gallilean moons of Jupiter. I remember thinking that I wanted to photograph what I saw. In the early 2000s I started dabbling with an old camera in the backyard - creating star trails and trying to capture meteor showers. Not long after that I bought a second-hand Meade 114mm reflector. Unfortunately something on it was broken (I can't remember what exactly), but it required a heck of a lot of manual effort to get it working anywhere near what it should have been like. It wasn't until 2013, when I received a rather large tax refund, that I was able to buy a telescope that I wanted. I went for the Celestron NexStar 8SE (which I still have). Visual astronomy through it was great, but I got the best kick when I attached a Canon SLR camera to it and started 'playing'. While many of my photos are poor - especially compared to what much of the rest of the community shares - I see this as my journey. If I can photograph something now, great! But if I can improve on that down the track, that's even better! To me it's not about capturing the best image, but about capturing the best image I can while learning and having fun ... if that makes sense. |
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I started around 2010, then I used to read forums like Cloudynights where many discussions made about Dobsonian telescopes can not be used for imaging. There I got motivation to TRY out the challenge & bought my first telescope Sky-watcher 6 inch Dobsonian. I got ZWO 120MC-S camera and started doing lunar and planetary imaging. Later I got into Aperture feaver so I upgraded my Dobsonian from 6 inch to 10 inch solid tube model. also upgraded camera to ZWO 290MC It certainly DID seen huge IMPROVEMENT into the images from new setup compared to Old setup. Then I heard in some Youtube video that you need to go to good dark sky in order to do DSO imaging and it can't be done from city sky. I got that challenge right away & ditched my TRUSTED 10 inch Sky-watcher dobsonian to get dedicated deep sky Astrophotography setup. so I got Bresesr EXOS II motorized mount and GSO 6 inch F/4 OTA. But due to complete LACK of knowledge about stacking, guiding, collimation etc. I found it VERY hard to get good results from that setup. Also the mount got flumsy and did not tracked well, simply because I haven't aware of guiding and mount was just RA-DEC motorized. So I again SOLD away ALL that setup and SAVED more money from my Job to get proper GOTO mount. I get iOptron iEQ45-Pro mount which I been using as my main mount till date for more than 5 years now. Meanwhile, my OTA feaver never went down and I bought Sky-watcher 130PDS OTA as my dedicated imaging tube. Later I found it can't shoot lunar details or Planets so I get GSO 6 inch F9 RC (still have it today as my main tube) For going on outstation dark sky locations I decided to get a portable tube so got Sharpstar 60ED APO rerfractor (still use today) So for past few years I got those 3 OTA for each focal length range. Used all mix and match but off far I found results from the 6 inch RC the most. Just yesterday only I sold away my Sky-watcher 130PDS OTA. So now I left with 2 GSO 6 inch RC and Sharpstar 60ED APO refractor OTA. My dream is to get RASA 8 or 8 inch EDGE HD which supports payload capacity of my mount. but since i live in india the import taxation by government is HUGE and makes high price purchases break the bank. Secondly, my Sky is limited in all directions due to high rise building surrounding my home terrace. I live in Bortle 6 lightpolluted city sky zone and I don't own a car so can't take my setup for an AP trip that easy. So all those factors mentioned are my motivation and aim to do BEST possible from City sky only. and try hands-on various OTA setups. Do visit my facebook profile for my images work, Cheers... Abhijit Juvekar https://www.facebook.com/abhijit.juvekar |
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I was thinking the same motivation as playing golf neither one went to well today. One likes to do something that can be a real pain in the butt. One thing that did go well today was viewing Jupiter with my Astro Tech 102 ed refractor getting the best views of Jupiter with it tonight that I've had with it so far. It helped with the purchase of a new Baader orthoscopic 10mm eyepiece and it did well with a 2x barlow, too. I'm still trying to get my new sky watcher to work right. I can't quite figure out if it's Mr doing something wrong or not. |
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This hobby is extraordinarily challenging, enriching, and entoxicating at times. The issue is with our generation, that we rarely see things that we share with others as things we do for fun, and rather attempt to gain attention by doing something by sharing it. You must find things you want, and like to do, not because people will see you do them. I'd rather enjoy something because I enjoy it rather than trying to show everyone I enjoy it, and actually suffer by doing so. If you feel that way about astrophotography, and that what you're doing is to upkeep a strong social media presence, like many of the super famous sleepless astro-athletes do (Yall crazy IMO, but fine by me!), or if it's too expensive, or simply not satisfying, then take a step back, evaluate yourself, take a break if need be, or if you go to the extremes of that, decide to quit, then quit. There's no shame in doing so. I'm not trying to entice you to do so, but if it comes to the point where it is detrimental any one of your mental, social, or financial life, I would quit for a while until the dust settles. I'm into astronomy and astrophotography for a few reasons, some more extreme than others. For me, it's variety of things: It's very fun and relaxing, and has the potential for scientific use later in my life, but most importantly, my scope is a continuation of my brother's life. My parents used his life insurance money after he passed away to invest in keeping me from falling into depression, so I see my scope as an extension of him. And it's better to do what you love in the memory of someone than to let the memories of them kill you slowly, and painfully. I'll never get rid of or sell this scope because of that. The art will always have a lasting impact on me. Life takes us many places, and sometimes we need to make the necessary sacrifices to achieve our goals. I know this more than anyone- heck man, I've got 10 days before I go to basic training, then get very little to no leave after that, then 2 years of A-school for my MOS that others have only described as "Mental and Emotional hell, of which you must fight through like the Doomslayer to survive"- All so I can go to school after my 6 year contract is up-- to become an astrophysicist. And I do love a challenge. My advice: Take a break, come back when your grades are healthily stable, and don't let Astrophotography be a detriment to your actual goals. Only you can decide if that's the right path for yourself. Good luck, V |
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| It's simply part of who I am. While some people fish, hunt, or play golf, I would pursue astrophotography even without the influence of social media. |
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We get to see beautiful things. CS David |
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I enjoy astrophotography. I enjoy the challenge of planning and logistics going to a darksite. I enjoy the challenge of data acquisition. I enjoy sitting in a chair under darkskies. I often bring a dslr on a tripod in addition to my equatorial mount. It’s fun to take shots of the nights events on the dslr. I really enjoy shutting down and packing up after a successful night of imaging, getting a nap between 5am and 6am. Then there is the drive home. There is nothing like sunrise breaking over the blue ridge mountains, especially if the valley is filled with clouds as far as you can see, and you can just pull off to an overlook and observe this very rare occurrence. Thats as close to God as you will ever get in the living world. Its a very intense calm and quiet experience. And as you drive a bit more you realize that the sun evaporates that fog in about an hour, no one even knows it occurred unless they were at elevation. It amazes me to meet locals who have never even driven on the parkway and have no idea this phenomenon occurred. Getting home to your family after mission success is amazing. I usually reward myself with some sleep for 4 or 5 hours, start my day late and I usually carry an immense sense of fulfillment for the rest of the week. You get back to work and think about the data you captured, what you did right, what you did wrong, and plan for the next trip. Often times I have enormous amounts of unprocessed data. That can be tricky to deal with lately as I think its time for a computer upgrade, but I enjoy image processing as well. At the end of the day its something I did simply to challenge myself. Its not being done to the gain of anyone else. I enjoy seeing others get in this hobby and stick with it and have alot of respect for those tough enough to venture to darksites and take on that animal. Its a hobby that can be either merciless with your time but its generally challenging and rewarding. I assume that the younger generations found this hobby through social media but its hard for me to accept that it might be used to create some form of identity on the internet based on likes and attention. Those are all characteristics you need to develop in real life. I hope the younger generations realize how much easier it is to enter this hobby and successfully image than it was 10 years ago. You can do so much more with the new equipment available at a much lower cost to entry. I encourage you to try and get out there under dark skies and enjoy the unusual things that occur in the sky and all around you during the hours where no one else is awake. |
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Astrophotography for me is the only way to travel through the universe. My telescope is my spacecraft, allowing me to journey at the speed of light and witness the immensity of it all. Many fail to grasp the wonder and how extraordinary this speck of dust we inhabit truly is. In my own small way, I strive to promote the vision that our future lies among the stars, advocating for the protection of our Earth while exploring beyond. Unfortunately, I see no other alternatives, and perhaps we are headed in the opposite direction. Yoda: Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter :-D |
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Great questions, which reveal a highly inquisitive Mind. That bodes well for your studies. For me, the attraction is several fold:
I hope some of this helps. I should also add that I need to rotate between multiple hobbies for variety. We only get limited laps around the Sun, so I want squeeze in as much stuff possible! Best Regards, Jeff |
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This and my other hobbies I choose to do not because they are easy, but because they are hard..... Borrowed a bit from JFK but true nonetheless.  |
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| I'm exactly one Starship Enterprise short of actually having a Starship Enterprise. This is the next best thing, a sensor captures so much more than the Mk I eyeball. I like doing EAA, but the deepest stuff requires long integration times. |
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Dave Erickson: Dave, You and I are kindred spirits in this regard and I'm in it for pretty much exactly the same reasons. But then we were both once interferometer guys as well. John |
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John Hayes:Dave Erickson: Hi John great to hear from you! We certainly are kindred spirits! Moved to a new house closer to the grand-kids a while back, just starting to bring my Zygo back up.. Once I am back from the eclipse I plan to start on a 10" schmidt camera with a OSC at prime focus, should be fun... |
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| ... just because it is fun! |
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Dave Erickson:John Hayes: It’s funny that I have a Zygo as well! It’s an old GPI that I think runs under XP on a computer so old that I’m not sure that it will even boot any longer. As you may know, I was the designer of the WYKO 6000, which was the instrument that kicked off that epic legal battle between our two companies back in the 90’s. The teaching lab at the Wyant college still has one that I’ve been maintaining for over a decade and they let me use whenever I want to test something. I’d love to be able to use my Zygo system but I don’t have the energy (or the room) to build an isolation table for it. What do you do for a table? The Schmidt project sounds like fun! John |
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Tomás Andonie: I do Astrophotography to spot alien lurker probes  |
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Nick Grundy:Michele Campini: That's funny, but oh so true. Miguel . |
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In my case I came from a traditional Photography background with academic studies on it, but when I returned home I went to very tiny place, and island actually with the size of Manhatan, and 70% of the population thinks they are photographers and videographers without any studies or research in the matter. They just have some youtube videos and a kit DSLR bought in the multimedia store like the Best Buy, but they do photoshootings, weddings, etc. an even some of them try photographic contests, and most of that "photography work" they just do for free. Imagine you seeing the entire series of Grey's Anatomy and Dr. House, then buy a white jacket and a stethoscope in the flee market and go to the hospital doing Dr.s work. It's the same thing.. and part of the population do that because they don't have anything better to do. Because of it, I just leave the traditional Photography, and went to the astronomical one. At least in the entire archipelago, just two or three guys do that. I have the background from Photography and just did after some paid studies with certified companies on Astronomy. The Neowise comet just helped a few months later with a push. Regards, Cesar |
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John Hayes:Dave Erickson:John Hayes: I recall you mentioning your Zygo. There are a couple of shops in SoCal with WYKO 6000, I get calls on occasion to fix them... still a good instrument.... I have my Zygo MK11 on a Gaertner optical bench with a parascope to bring the centerline up to 12". Its not a phase measuring instrument. I changed to camera for a new CMOS camera, and I use the coupling tricks to reduce vibration and eyeball the fringes. Not analytical but works. |
