How I First Became Interested In Astronomy
When I was in my first year of high school, I came home one day, to find that one of my older brothers (John) had a new telescope sent to me.
Of course, as you might’ve guessed it was the ubiquitous 60mm refractor!
I was very excited, but at that age, with no experience with astronomy, and no one around to guide me, I didn’t really know how to get the most out of it.
And although I lived under Bortle 4 skies at that time, all I ever managed to do with it, was to look at the moon and planets – I think back now, and think to myself: what a waste of dark skies! That was what first sparked my interest in astronomy.
Through the years since then, I’ve always had a telescope of one kind or another around. I really became immersed in astronomy, and at one point even invested in more than one pair of Fujinon binoculars, along with matching nebula filters, a TeleVue telescope (The Pronto), as well as a new 8 inch Dobsonian. But it was all still visual astronomy.
Discovering Astrophotography
As it so happens, to many of us amateur visual astronomers, we eventually become interested in astrophotography; and I was no different.
As for my career, I was an Information Technology Professional, working for many fortune 500 companies, in fast-paced New York City.
Nevertheless, when it came time for my hobbies, I was still on a limited budget. Astrophotography can be an expensive hobby; and I didn’t have a lot of discretionary funds available to spend on expensive equipment. So I looked into ways that I could enjoy astrophotography on a low budget.
My first forays into astrophotography, consisted of wooden barn door trackers with 12V stepper motors, and 35mm film cameras! I used many different models (mostly rangefinder types), and also used gas-hypered film!
Gas-hypered film was offered by a company, called Lumicon, and I’m pretty sure I was the individual who purchased the very last rolls they had in stock. Gas-hypered film is no longer available anywhere…Something which in this day and age, would be considered an ancient relic! Well, in those days, gas-hypered film was made, so that amatuer astrophotographers could capture colourful nebulae with their film cameras.
At some point in the future, I'll scan some print photos I'd made with gas-hypered film, and add them to this post. For now, here is a Pic of one of my better barn door trackers:
Making Progress In Astrophotography
Things slowly continued from there; I was able to acquire slightly better equipment, over time (but still always low budget!). I even experimented with a low cost (Meade) one shot color CCD camera, attached to a 135mm (Canon) lens.
I eventually (finally!) progressed to a modified Canon DSLR camera, along with slightly better mounts. I can still remember how off-the-charts happy I was, when I got that used, Ha-modified Canon DSLR! I also bought an extra lens from the seller.
The astrophotography experiments continued; at this time I was living under Bortle 8 skies, (in Bronx NY) not too far from New York City.
As I advanced, the thing I began to notice, was how astrophotography required quite a bit of time in front of a computer screen - processing the images. As an IT Professional, I already spent almost 9 hours a day, looking at computer screens!
Believe it or not, this was one of the main reasons why I would take long breaks from the hobby. I simply didn’t want to spend so much time in front of a computer screen, stacking and post processing images.
Discovering and using The Dwarf 2
Then, just recently, I discovered The Dwarf II smart telescope from DwarfLabs.
When I first stumbled across the Dwarf 2 - It was like wow! I started seeing the images people were taking with the Dwarf 2 – and they looked great!
So I immediately decided that I simply had to have one!
I’ve been using mine on every clear night, since I got it. Of course, there are many wonderful pros about owning and using a Dwarf 2 smart telescope. The characteristic I appreciate most, is how the images look so good – and that with just a little basic “cleaning up”, most often directly on your cell phone, they are ready to share with friends and family.
There are many things that I like about The Dwarf 2, but 2 factors which are most prominent, are:
1. The way it’s like having a tiny robot, doing your astrophotography for you. I mean, it's out there in your backyard...sometimes, in the freezing cold, taking photos of deep space for you...It might as well be a Probe Droid 🤖
2. And, the wide fields of view it provides. It is able to comfortably frame many of the larger deep sky objects, where other smart telescopes cannot.
On these nights, whenever I leave The Dwarf 2 outside in the backyard, to do it’s imaging: I walk back into the house, with a big smile on my face, saying to myself: “I love this thing!”
In fact, as I type this, my Dwarf 2 is on my deck; taking (and stacking) images of NGC 6946 The Fireworks Galaxy and open star cluster NGC 6939 - Since they both fit comfortably in the field of view!
I'm looking forward to doing more astrophotography with The Dwarf 2!
Keep an eye out for Story #2, coming soon...Until next time,
Clear & steady skies to you!
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