About Me
Hello. Welcome to my astronomy page. I am what can be called a Renaissance Man or a Homo Universalis.Astronomy and astrophysics is one of my many interests so I decided to create this web site as a way to consolidate this interest. If you are interested in learning about my other interests, please visit my general interest site http://www.homouniversalis.site (still not online, but I am hoping to bring it online soon).
Although I am not a professional astronomer or astrophysicist, I have a very strong formation in math and science (I have Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering) that let me understand scientific papers in astronomy and astrophysics. For many, amateur astronomy is a hobby. For me, astronomy and astrophysics is an activity, not a hobby because in the same way that people go to the gym to keep their bodies fit and healthy, I engage in scientific activities, like astronomy and astrophysics, not only because I like it but also because it helps me keeping my brain fit and healthy.
It is possible to group amateur astronomers in two big groups: observers and astrophotographers. Observers use their eyes, binoculars or telescopes to look at astronomic objects. Astrophotographers, instead, use cameras to take images of astronomic objects. Of course, many amateur astronomers do both things so this two groups is based on their primary interest. Although from time to time I do visual observations, my primary interest is astrophotography. Astrophotographers can also be divided in their main imaging interests. Some like to do nightscaping (wide-field images including some foreground earth’s objects or places). Others like to do planetary imaging, which can be divided in those that are interested in planets and those interested in comets or asteroids. Others like to do deep sky imaging, which can also be divided in those interested in galaxies or nebulae or other objects. In my case, as a renaissance man, I like to do all (nightscaping, planetary and deep sky). Many of those doing astrophotography are attracted to the aesthetic component of it. Of course, I also like the beauty of the sky but I am more attracted to the science behind the images and although many of those doing astrophotography are also interested in the related science, few get, like me, deep into scientific papers and books with hard math concepts, in order to understand the scientific concepts related to an image. For related reasons, sometimes I don’t mind that much breaking some of the astroimaging unwritten rules, provided the resulting image has acceptable quality. For example, I use color cameras instead of monochromatic cameras and filter wheels because the sequential approach to capture images with monochromatic cameras require an excessive amount of time that I don’t have due to my job and because of the unfriendly weather that I have where I live.
Anyway, my goal with this website is, then, not only to show some nice astronomic images, but also to explore the science related to each image. So, with time, I will do my best to build its content. I hope you enjoy this site and feel free to send me questions or comments.