About me and my passion for astrophotography and space:
Hi, my name is Ethan Roberts and I have been fascinated by the universe as far back as I could remember. I have memories of learning about space exploration and the moon landings in primary school as well as looking through books filled with pretty pictures of the cosmos taken by some of the big telescopes (not knowing many years later, I'd be taking my own). It captivated my imagination and made me exceptionally curious about what is out there. Around the same time, we went on holiday to Orlando, Florida and on one of the days we were there, we went to Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) to see the various facilities like the rocket garden, walk inside a mock-up Shuttle and see the Saturn V that is on display. Unfortunately, we almost got to see the final flight of Shuttle Discovery but it was delayed due to various problems. :(
Fast forward to my 15th birthday and I got my first telescope - a Celestron Nexstar 5SE. This is where the my hobby of stargazing, then eventually astrophotography, really took off. Seeing the moon up close was definitely a sight to behold as well as seeing Jupiter in the summer months. What really took my breath away was trying to track the International Space Station (ISS) as it went over - my first time pointing the telescope at the ISS, I looked through the eyepiece to actually see the Space Station. Most easily recognisable were the shiny, brown solar panels and the shape of the body of the ISS could also be made out.
Once I got my first astro-camera, my passion for astrophotography became a very big part of me. The camera was an Altair IMX224 which is only really suited for planets and the moon, however, it showed me just how dynamic the moon and solar system is such as Jupiter's fast rotation, the phases of Venus and the Moon's libration. From here, things kept progressing as I learnt of new imaging techniques, upgraded equipment (5SE to C8) and tried to pier deeper into space to see more.
Since my images have been rapidly improving, I've had suggestions to send my best ones off to competitions and magazines. One of the first competitions I entered had a relatively small group of people that was run by the Altair Astro company. I entered thinking I had little to no chance of winning but you can probably guess what happened... I won first prize - this got me the AR0130 camera. Recently, I entered my image of the Horsehead nebula to BBC's Sky at Night magazine. Not only was my image selected for the magazine, but 'photo of the month'.
On the 10th September, 2020, the Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year (IIAPY) results were announced; I was pleased to find out I came runner up in the moon category with my picture of the partial lunar eclipse with clouds!
You can view the moon category here along with the other winners.
I am located in Southend, Essex in the UK in a moderately light polluted region being Bortle 5 on the scale. This hasn't stopped me from trying to get pictures of even the faintest of targets. I do all my astrophotography from my garden where I can leave my tracking mount outside for long periods of time so it's always ready from the next night of imaging.
This is me next to Apollo 15 Command Module pilot Alfred Worden.
Here I am holding my latest scope - Celestron C8. Bought second hand for an incredible deal!
My image of the Horsehead nebula in the Sky at Night magazine.
Here on my site, I will present my best work in high resolution for all to enjoy. This will include space pictures as well as other photography I'm proud of in the 'DSLR and Widefield' section.
Join me as I capture the wonders of space from my garden.