We are a family living just outside Zurich, Switzerland - two adults, one son coming into his teens and a cat. After having stargazed on clear nights we took the decision that the family Christmas present 2014 would be a telescope. It was purely coincidental that our son at the same time was presented with the book "Constellations" by Giles Sparrow which contains truly magnificent photos of the universe. This made us take up astrophotography in earnest.
One of the most limiting factors of our hobby is finding a clear sky on a night which allows us to stay up late as we are all either working or going to school throughout the week. The one who finds it easiest to keep up with these nightly activities obviously is the cat. This means that we not only have to fear tripping over cables, but also falling over an excited cat. Luckily we live in a hamlet with not too much artificial light (except for the lights of the town of Zurich to the south-west). We can therefore build up our telescope close by our home for the time being to capture new objects.
This website has been created with a view to show that even on an amateur level quite spectacular pictures of the universe can be taken. But we also wish to give some insight into the technical data on how the pictures were taken as we felt that there is little to no guidance on the technical side of astrophotography available. We have therefore provided the quintessential data for the photos as well as information regarding the hard- and software we decided to use. Very obviously, there is not only one possible solution to this all and trial and error is part of the excitement. However, maybe this website can give some information as to where to start.
We hope you enjoy our photos as much as we do. We will gladly provide you with the photos in our portfolio free of charge. But as we wish to keep track on who is using the photos, please contact us to obtain the photos in high resolution. For more information about the images please click on image details within the gallery.