{"id":464967,"date":"2026-05-02T12:57:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T12:57:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/464967\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T12:57:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T12:57:33","slug":"i-cant-orbit-the-moon-but-i-can-explore-the-universe-from-my-backyard-as-a-photographer-im-amazed-at-the-space-discoveries-made-possible-with-cameras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/464967\/","title":{"rendered":"I can\u2019t orbit the moon, but I can explore the universe from my backyard. As a photographer, I\u2019m amazed at the space discoveries made possible with cameras"},"content":{"rendered":"

A backyard astrophotographer discovered a new galaxy with a 2MP camera. A 14-year-old unearthed a supernova by combing through space survey images. A backyard astronomer discovered 17 comets \u2013 including two with an old DSLR.<\/p>\n

Nothing quite illustrates the power of a camera \u2013 new or old \u2013 like astrophotography.<\/p>\n

Last month, I watched in amazement as Artemis II sent back the first human-photographed images of space<\/a> taken outside Earth\u2019s orbit in decades. As a photographer, the images were an eloquent reminder of the power of the camera.<\/p>\n

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\"A
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(Image credit: NASA)<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t orbit the moon, but I can get a glimpse of the experience with a camera. That\u2019s how powerful and impactful the camera is.<\/p>\n

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But cameras don\u2019t even need to be the latest flagship models to be powerful. Artemis II used a decade-old DLSR<\/a>, an old GoPro<\/a>, and a modern mirrorless Nikon Z9<\/a> that I could buy and use in my own backyard if I wanted to.<\/p>\n

The Artemis II images had me wondering, what else have cameras helped discover, even without ever leaving Earth\u2019s atmosphere? Giuseppe Donatiello<\/a>, an amateur astronomer, discovered five new galaxies \u2013 using a 2MP CCD camera sensor with a homemade telescope.<\/p>\n

Terry Lovejoy<\/a> is a backyard astronomer who has now discovered 17 comets. His first two<\/a>? Those were discovered photographing the night sky with the Canon<\/a> 300D, a 6.3MP entry-level DSLR introduced back in 2003.<\/p>\n

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Comet Lovejoy appears above the Earth’s atmosphere in this ISS photo from NASA’s Dan Burbank (Image credit: NASA l JSC)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just the camera, but images that have led to a number of discoveries about our universe. Caroline Moore<\/a> was just 14 when she discovered a new supernova \u2013 making her the youngest person to do so. She discovered the surprisingly dim supernova using images from the Puckett Observatory Supernova Search before locating it with her astrophotographer father\u2019s backyard telescope.<\/p>\n

The camera isn\u2019t just a tool for exploring space. The camera is an equalizer, allowing anyone to explore the final frontier with two feet placed firmly in their own backyard.<\/p>\n

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\"The\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Hillary K Grigonis)<\/p>\n

Standing in my backyard with a camera directed up towards the sky makes me feel both small and powerful at once. There\u2019s something about the night sky that eases the tension in my shoulders and makes the stress of the day seem inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t name much beyond the Big Dipper and Polaris, but I can stand in awe of the universe just the same. As my favorite science fiction alien, Rocky from Hail Mary, would say, photographing the stars makes me feel \u201cAmaze! Amaze! Amaze!\u201d (An excellent movie, which, by the way, featured stunning images from astrophotographer Rod Prazeres<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

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\"An
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(Image credit: Future)<\/p>\n

National Space Day celebrates achievements in space exploration and encourages the next generation of explorers. After watching the Artemis II mission from afar, I can\u2019t help but think that the camera is still an integral tool for space discovery, both in microgravity and with two feet firmly planted in a dark backyard.<\/p>\n

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Browse the best cameras for astrophotography<\/a> or the best tripods<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A backyard astrophotographer discovered a new galaxy with a 2MP camera. A 14-year-old unearthed a supernova by combing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[270],"tags":[18,19,17,133,451],"class_list":{"0":"post-464967","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-space"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116505100717540308","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}