A Beginner’s View of the Universe (Ongoing Notes from an Astronomy student and lazy Amateur Astronomer)

 

Hi all,

As some of you know, I’m currently studying astronomy at the University of Lancashire. Coming to this later in life has been both challenging and genuinely fascinating — there’s something quite humbling about realising how much there is to learn about the universe.

Rather than writing separate posts every time I come across something interesting, I thought I’d try something different: a single, evolving post that I’ll keep updating as I go.

This will be a mix of:

• things I’m learning
• observations from my own imaging
• and the occasional “10 things about…” style notes

I’ll update this regularly, so feel free to check back in from time to time.

---

🔭 Current Setup

I’m using a Seestar S30, which has been a great entry point into imaging.

So far I’ve been using it for:

• Solar imaging
• Lunar shots
• Deep Sky Objects (DSOs)

It’s surprisingly capable for something so compact, and ideal for someone like me who’s still learning the ropes without wanting to get buried in overly complex setups (yet).

---

☀️ 10 Things About the Sun

1. The Sun accounts for about 99.8% of the mass in the entire solar system.
2. It’s around 4.6 billion years old — roughly halfway through its life.
3. The core temperature is about 15 million °C.
4. Light from the Sun takes about 8 minutes to reach Earth.
5. The Sun is mostly hydrogen and helium.
6. Nuclear fusion in the core converts hydrogen into helium.
7. Sunspots are cooler areas caused by magnetic activity.
8. Solar flares can disrupt communications on Earth.
9. The Sun has an 11-year activity cycle.
10. One day, it will expand into a red giant.

(I’ll add more sections like this over time for other objects.)

---

🌙 Recent Observations – Moon

[Update this section regularly]

I have spent some time capturing the Moon recently using my SeeStar S30.

Conditions were:

• Seeing: Fair to Good (≈ 5–7/10)
• Transparency: Moderate
• Conditions: A relatively stable evening with some high-level haze at times. Seeing was decent enough for lunar detail, though not perfectly steady — occasional atmospheric shimmer noticeable at higher magnifications.

What stood out most was the level of surface detail — craters and shadow contrast were particularly sharp.

Things I’m learning:

• Timing really matters (early vs late phase)
• Even small changes in conditions make a big difference

---

🌌 Deep Sky Objects (DSOs)

[Ongoing section]

I’ve started experimenting with DSOs — still early days.

Targets so far:

• IC1318
• M31
• M42
• M101

Challenges:

• Light pollution
• Tracking limitations
• Processing (still learning!)

---

🧠 Things I’m Learning (and Re-learning)

• Patience matters more than equipment
• Conditions often matter more than settings
• You don’t need perfect gear to get started
• Half the battle is just going outside and trying

---

🔄 This Post Will Evolve

I’ll keep updating this with:

• new observations
• new images
• short “10 things about…” sections (planets, galaxies, etc.)

---

❓ Question

For those of you interested in space or photography:

What would you like me to try and capture next — the Moon, planets, or more deep sky objects?

---

More updates soon.