ELK GROVE, Calif. — Escaping to outer space is something Andrew McCarthy does regularly from his backyard. His telescope is his spacecraft.
His cosmic photography is now getting attention from people all over the world. The high-resolution images show such detail it almost feels like you’re coming in for a landing.
He shared the photos on Instagram to start a conversation about space and photography. After about a year of fine-tuning his skills, people began asking to purchase his work. Then the international press came calling.
He’s been featured in stories in India and Mexico. Something he wasn’t expecting at all.
Andrew’s fascination with the skies started when he was a little kid In Folsom, California looking through a telescope at the night sky with his dad. He started learning the planets and stars. Once he was older, he added photography to the mix.
Photographing space can be tricky though, as he explains since the atmosphere is a turbulent place. He says it’s like looking through water. To get rid of that distortion, he has to take nearly a million photos to get one clean high-detailed image.
There is also a certain skill in highlighting important landmarks. For example, he can see the subtle color variation on the Moon’s surface and bring those out to show titanium or basalt deposits.
Andrew says a good way to save money getting into this hobby is to buy used equipment. He says astronomers take pretty good care of their tools.
Being able to explore the universe and get out of our bubble he says, is fascinating.
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