Astrophotography: do you know why you are doing it?

[silv (Annette)]

yup. That's the question.

Which part of AP do you enjoy doing? Or maybe even: from which part in AP do you hope to gain enjoyment?

[silv (Annette)]

This long read hopefully explains why I'm asking this. AP can be very annoying for various reasons. It's expensive, it's difficult, it's frustrating. Continued frustration can cement in depressive brain chemistry, having an observable negative impact on overall life quality, both, personally and for the individuals around us. Whether we ourselves actually "observe" that or are blind to the consequences of our actions.

My pleasure in astrophotography doesn't come from spending money after detailed consideration and acquiring knowledge about bits and peaces I need to buy, nor from DIY improvement projects. Or from pushing a button to my fully automated setup in an obs.
My pleasure in AP comes from taking out the loupe and investigate and understand what's visible, afterwards.

That's why your Sculptor result wouldn't encourage me to continue, at all. No joy in it for me. If it were the very beginning of the road for me, the very first imaging result, I'd continue 'cause there'd be hope I could approach a quality level which gives me the joy described before.
But you've been "at it" for 10 years now as a search in IIS shows, going through the Deep Space forum threads you created over the years.

So here's my question: what exactly did you enjoy most in those past 10 years? Was it the DIY part of the hobby? Or the technical thinking required in handling in mechanics, optics and post-processing software? Or was it the moments when you first pushed the curves in PI on a dark stack and suddenly the colourful, wispy details of a PN appear and give you an endorphin kick?

Those are mere examples I can empathically imagine. I'd suggest you ask yourself and find answer[s]: what are the details that gave or give you joy in astrophotography?

'Cause what your other thread and this one make me think is that the rational side in you is willing to give up an annoying part in your life but the addict in you (the one in search for that endorphin kick) is not letting go.

Don't let the addict in you get addicted to the "annoyed neurotransmitters" because that would lower your psychological wellbeing in a fundamental way: making your inner addict addicted to depressing actions to get the kick out of depressing neurotransmitter.
Go and find out which moments or areas a really giving you pleasure. From that knowledge, a future hobby will show itself. One that'll give you joy and appease the addict in you with positive brain chemicals.

Sorry for the long read and bad English. But I really think my viewpoint here is valuable just because it's so different from the others'.

[LewisM]

For me it is to actually see the splendour of the cosmos, not look with my feeble eyes at a fuzzy grey patch, with averted vision, convincing myself it is what I am looking at I need to see real detail, colour, structure, not...a fuzzy grey nothingness.

To each their own - I really don't need a 20" scope to see a SMALL amount of colour compared to what I can see with a camera I do OCCASIONALLY enjoy cruising star fields with a wide EP or planets, but less often than imaging. I have used large instruments, and visual just doesn't grab me still.

[rrussell1962]

How very odd Lewis, I am a visual observer for all the reasons that you are not! I have tried imaging - all too hard, cables and laptops all over the place.

[multiweb (Marc)]

You can get lost in the night sky. It puts life into perspective and all your day to day problems go away and seem insignificant. And you get to image awesome stuff and tinker with scopes. What's not to like?

[Slawomir (Suavi)]

The best part is sharing results with those who are interested, even if for a brief moment, and because I collect and process the data, I feel there is a different level of understanding of what the image actually represents. So doing astrophotography yourself allows for a narrative to go with a (hopefully) pretty picture. That's how I see it anyway. But my adventure with astrophotography started after I realised how limiting light pollution is for visual astronomy - it was just a tad too difficult for me to pursue visual astronomy from our balcony in Rockdale overlooking Sydney airport. Narrowband was a revelation

[Atmos (Colin)]

It is a really interesting question! For me, I got into astrophotography after a number of years of visual astronomy and while I was studying astrophysics. I've always enjoyed photography and this seemed like the perfect match of interests, astronomy and photography.

I enjoy being able to photograph the sky and see things that I wouldn't be able to see otherwise, this is the point that Lewis was getting at. Being very technical minded I enjoy that technical aspect which is a part of the reason I enjoy mosaics; being able to photography entire areas at high resolution for later enjoyment.

Then there is the physics background where it is about trying to understand what has happened in the past in any particular region. A big part of my Masters was studying globular clusters and their evolution and that is something that I would like to, at some stage in the future, be able to research more through astrophotography.

As Suavi also mentions, it is nice to have a community to share the hard work with

[glend (Glen)]

Motivations do change over time, the reason you started may not be the reason you stay. Recent health problems certainly force a re-assessment of the rational behind the effort. Frankly, the importance of imaging has changed significantly, to the point where it has to be set aside. A near death experience is wonderful for focusing your priorities, especially when you have years worth of data and finished images of the objects you find most fascinating.
As far as sharing my work with others (with the exception of family and friends), I learned early that (at least here) it is a sure way to make you feel bad about what you have achieved. Once you have learned your craft, and are happy with your results, that should be enough.

[RickS (Rick)]

I enjoy most aspects of AP but I find processing the most challenging and interesting part. Image capture is pretty cool too when you're chasing something that hasn't been imaged (well) before.

Cheers,
Rick.

[Shiraz (Ray)]

Imaging is really the only way to continue the hobby as the eyes age. Sure it can be hard to get everything working well, but the results can be shared with others - which can a huge bonus at times. Cheers Ray

[Lee]

I like how, with my little 8" newt in my rather light polluted backyard, I can see intricate details in galaxies that you'd probably need a metre of aperture to see visually. Watching the movement of planets from night to night, watching the movement of stars from year to year. I enjoy putting my eye to the eyepiece occasionally, but imaging is the ultimate aperture expander.....

[Karlzburg (Karl)]

I do it for the excitement of what I may get, i don't have any fancy set up a max of 3 cables ( power, hand controller and camera control ) I sit and freeze with my equipment outside and stare at the sky and think nothing or learning the stars ( get a me away from the Kardashians too, not a fan of reality TV). When I'm ready I'll print my pics and hang them on the walls or give them at xmas.
Plus I can't see half of what camera can, the 30 sec shot to see if you're on the mark and it shows where I want to be, i have my little fist pumps

[RyanJones]

Initially it was purely to share with others what I could see. Little did I realise how little I was seeing. So as small point and shoots were showing me things I could see, the step to a DSLR was enevitable. Suddenly I'm presented with everything that the eyes can't see and the adiction begins.

Part of the reason I've not discarded my " slow " scope as being too slow is because of the challenges it presents. As if this hobby doesn't present us with enough. I thrive on the challenge. And yes I love the pretty picures but the real enjoyment is capturing them. The saying has been cleaned up for myriad of reality TV shows and is now called " the journey " but essentially it's the old adage that the chase is better than the catch.

That's the personal satisfaction taken care of, then there's the physics side of what we are looking at. It feeds my need for understanding as I read about how the objects came to be then further more feeds me need to question everything. I don't want to " know ", I want to understand and my mind can end up on amazing adventures into the unknown over studying one object I've captured. The depths of discovery cannot but underestimated and the sheer magnitude of the time and distances we are a part of are incomprehensible.

For me Astrophotography feeds so much of my mind and far more than I ever conceived.

[g__day (Matthew)]

Optimising the imaging process to get a result I like - I love learning and tinkering with complex technologies and star gazing is sublime...

[that_guy (Tony)]

At this point I'm in too deep to stop. That's the main reason I keep doing what I'm doing.

[Startrek (Martin)]

I enjoy both visual and AP , one takes no time to set up and the other can take 2 or 3 hours but once you attain the skills and have the equipment to take reasonable images it’s so rewarding you can’t go back only forward
Another reason is my eye sight is slowly deteriorating in my right eye , I have astigmatism, PVD and constant floaters and peripheral flashes, so I only have one good eye for visual work which I enjoy immensely.If at some stage in the future my good eye decides to give me trouble , I will have to give the visual away but will still be able to image. So for me AP provides a great deal of challenges,rewards and enjoyment now and will be my saviour and backstop in the future
PS: I still get a buzz out of viewing a 1st quarter moon at the terminator on a good seeing night through my 12” GoTo Dob and Ethos / Delos eye pieces. It’s truly a spacewalk feeling hovering above the mountains and craters. You can’t do that with AP !!

[Icearcher (Chris)]

For me its a few things.

I think the main one is the learning curve, theres always something new to learn and to figure out, a new challenge or just learning how a piece of equipment works. Its this challenge that keeps my brain engaged and its good to have a challenge in life.

Secondly, its the getting away from everyday life and just relaxing by myself, as others have said, it really puts the day to day life in perspective when you are gazing at an entire universe.

And then theres the excitement when you capture something that you have been working towards and all the pieces just fall in to place. Case in point, my recent capture of the lagoon nebular, I was running some test/framing shots at crazy ISO but I was so excited to see it large on the laptop screen that I took a pic on my phone to send to a mate just to share the joy.

Its a fun hobby and I dont think I will be giving it up anytime soon.

Regards
Chris

[Ant0nio (Tony)]

That's a very timely question for me, lately I've been struggling with the notion that astrophotography has taken the fun out of stargazing for me, after investing a good deal of time & money recently with plenty of frustration involved in getting a worthwhile result. That said, the results have been more & more rewarding as I progress. I'd have to say the most enjoyment I've had has been the visual experience when I first got involved in this hobby & I think that is what I have been missing lately, for me there is nothing quite like that connection you have looking at the heavens through some quality glass. But...I always craved more detail, initially I bought a camera to make live viewing available to my 90yr old Dad & I think the experience of seeing IC434 materialize during a live stack is what got me hooked on astrophotoghraphy, the vast number of objects too faint to appreciate visually & the challenge to produce a quality image is what drives me. In retrospect I guess it's all about maintaining a balance. Thanks for the therapy Annette & apologies for the long winded reply.
Clear skies (we wish),
Tony

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

I just do it for the pretty pictures. Yes there are pretty pictures from others, but like carpentry there is pleasure and accomplishment in doing it yourself.

[speach (Simon)]

I just like throwing good money after bad