Hello,

My name is Dimitar Stoev and I am your host. This is SpaceWave and today I am going to share my thoughts on space images and astrophotography.

Before saying anything, I want to make a disclaimer right here – I am not an astrophotographer. I am just an enthusiast who is interested in the field.

So, what is astrophotography?

The official definition I found is – Astrophotography is the art and science of capturing images of celestial objects like stars, planets, galaxies and nebulae.

Everything we have seen from the Hubble Deep Space image to the images of the Apollo missions on the Moon.

And mentioning that, I want to say that it’s not just about the quality of the images, but it is about the magic of the night sky.

There is a reason two lovers watch the stars in every romantic movie. These stars reminds us that we are small and insignificance, but it also means we are here, observing the universe back.

Our bodies are just dust, but our minds are big and wander.

Watching all these images is the same.

It is a reminder.

There are a few categories we could talk about – the Wide – field photography, Deep Sky imaging and Planetary photography.

All of them, self-explanatory.

I love all of them and all of them have a different charm and trigger different emotions. At least in me.

The Wide field photos usually are more nuanced and allow more freedom of expression.

That makes them perfect for space art in my opinion.

I have seen many montages of the Milky way as a background to a desert, palm trees, mountains and so on.

Endless possibilities and it makes them perfect for home decoration.

Deep sky images are insane and mind-blowing. It’s completely stunning to be able to photographs galaxies that are so far away that the number doesn’t make sense.

How is that even possible. The colors, the details, the resolutions. It’s incredible.

These images trigger the philosopher in me.

I start to wander about the scale and what could be hidden in these images.

Am I looking at millions of alien civilizations? Dyson spheres, galactic wars, birth and death.

So many stories we probably will never learn about. Hidden in thedistant corners of space.

When it comes to planetary imaging, I get some anxiety from some photos.

A good example would be the image of the Venus surface. Especially when combined with the howling ghosty sound.

Creepy!

I love seeing the photos of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars.

We have so many great photos.

The great thing with the amateur astrophotography is that we get a lot more up to date images. And we get that every day.

A lot of people share on their Instagram Jupiter and I think this is one of the most famous targets out there. Alongside the Moon.

All these images are worthy. It is a way to connect with the universe and share its beauty with everybody.

I follow some great astro photographers and I am inspired by the work they do.

I have seen some great montages and recently I came upon an image of the Moon with Saturn just showing from behind.

Great image with great colors and dept.

There are many more similar images out there.

My experience is nowhere near that.

To be completely fair, I want to go there and learn to shoot all of that.

I recently got a telescope and I am currently enjoying the visual side of astronomy. I have troubles finding anything, but I am trying my best.

My journey into astrophotography is like many others probably. The first time I saw Jupiter; I wanted to share with everybody.

And I did what you can imagine – I grabbed my phone and put it Infront of the lens.

The image is blurry and not good, but I was happy.

I remember wanting a telescope since I was very little and I am so glad and happy that I finally have one for myself.

I also, can’t wait to upgrade everything and enjoy it even more!

What I have is two small telescopes on Equatorial mounts. Basic setup without a go-to tracking mounts.

My plan is to get the mount first so I can put the telescopes I have on it.

I know it’s not going to be great, but starting small and cheap is a goal right now.

I need to learn first.

If you plan to follow along, you can find me on X, Threads and spacepixel.app/explore/@dimitarstoev.

I will share the images I make there.

One topic I want to discuss here.

It’s battling to me why the gatekeeping here is such a problem here.

There are some forums out there, that I won’t mention, but I asked some questions about starting out.

And I got extremelydisappointed with the amount of people who not only refuse to help, but tried to gate keep the hobby from me.

Apparently, I need thousands of dollars to begin and I also have to learn to find every star in the night sky in order to even consider taking a picture.

And getting an image with my phone – that's an insult to the hobby.

Okay... now. I try to understand why some people are so angry about wanting to go cheap and easy. They have spent thousands of hours into the hobby and thousands of dollars on equipment. The images they take are out of this world. Incredible and jaw-dropping.

I fully agree that to get such results, you need the proper equipment and knowledge to edit the raw images.

But gatekeeping people who just try to enjoy the universe.

What kind of character is this?

I am just trying to show what I love.

I don’t need to be astronomer, astrophysicist or multimillionaire to effort even looking at the stars.

And I tried to check how big of a problem that is and found out some other forums who had the same problem. Gatekeepers everywhere.

I am sure that is a problem in any field out there, but space is too exciting and the hobby itself is difficult.

Of course, I know I need the biggest bucks to get the best telescopes and camera. But suggest something I can work with and be polite.

Why are using a forum, if you can’t talk to strangers?

Where are the soft skills?

This (and many more) are the reasons why I am building SpacePixel. A social network for space people. No gatekeeping. Just people sharing their work and their interest.

I hope you find it interesting and I hope you sign-up so I can check the photos you have.

Thank you for tuning into SpaceWave.

I hope this episode inspired you to look up for some great sapce images.

If you have any astrophotography tips, stories or photos, upload them on SpacePixel as well. I would love to feature them in the future.

In the next episode, I will explore how space inspire sci-fi movies and shows.

So long and thanks for listening.