The Astronomer

It’s a late May evening and I’m sitting outside relaxing and enjoying the spring warmth. As the sun sets, the gorgeous blend of orange, purple, and blue begins to darken. Sitting in my chair, I lean back to stretch. As I do, I peer up at the deep blue sky, and I see a couple of the brightest stars. Though it is no special day, I decide to grab my phone and point it upwards. I click the shutter button and the phone takes a quick picture. At the bottom of the frame, a treetop is fuzzy and stretched. The image is unfocused and washed out. But, as I examine it more closely, I count exactly twelve little white dots. They’re stars. Realizing that I could only see two or three a moment ago, I think to myself that either the phone can see more than I can, or the sky has darkened. Curious, I decide to take another, this one with night mode to lengthen the exposure. Now, the image has no tree, it’s better focused, and about three dozen stars appear, all more defined. 

As the evening ages, a breeze picks up and the temperature drops significantly. I stay outside imaging the sky, soon discovering that I can extend the exposure time to thirty seconds if I keep my phone still. To avoid the shaking in my hands, I set my phone on a ledge. I click again. This time, several hundred little white dots appear. I quickly enhance the saturation and brightness, and hit “done.” Time stops. I sit and simply take it in. The image has a beautiful blue background full of stars. It’s beautiful and calming, speaking to me like nothing ever had. I think to myself “each one of those dots is a place with a story.” As the night progresses, I slowly image the night sky, opening my camera to light from unimaginable distances and times. The phone, originally charged, slowly drains until I hit the shutter one final time, closing my door to the cosmos. The next evening, I await the sun’s departure, allowing me to begin imaging again–a pattern that is now my normal. 

This is the type of image I took that night. A beautiful and extensive star field with the Milky Way weaving across the frame. I've always loved space, but only recently have I taken a much larger interest. I've now imaged the sky thousands of times and imaged dozens of objects with my telescope. I plan to major in astrophysics and aerospace engineering. I want to go to graduate school and get a PhD in astronomy, astrophysics, or cosmology. Every time I image the stars, it gives me a perspective I can't find anywhere else. Below are a few other images that I've taken using my telescope.