Astronomers snap beautiful photos despite light pollution

Densely populated and polluted with light, major cities like Brisbane may not be the most obvious places to see the stars.

But amateur astronomers and astrophotographers say there is still plenty to look at, especially with modern telescope technology.

Astrophotography involves taking photos of the night sky and celestial objects.

Sudath Wijeratne began the hobby five years ago, starting with a simple telescope and camera to snap pictures of the Moon.

He now has a small observatory on the roof of his Brisbane home and a telescope capable of taking award-winning pictures.

While Brisbane's light pollution can make things more challenging, Mr Wijeratne said it was not a barrier to getting into stargazing or astrophotography.

"There are lots of things above our heads in the sky," he said. "The city doesn't discriminate; they are still there."

"You start with the moon and your planets, they are the brightest things in the sky, then you have the stars.

"The Southern Cross constellation and sometimes meteor showers that we actually can see from the city without specialised equipment."

For his deep-sky photography, Mr Wijeratne uses long exposure techniques to capture nebulae and stars light-years away.

"[It shows] how small we are compared to the universe that's out there," Mr Wijeratne said.

"It's actually encouraged me to see we are part of a much bigger picture."

Damian Fletcher is the president of the South East Queensland Astronomical Society (SEQAS), which runs monthly telescope nights for the public.

He said people are often surprised by what is visible even from inner parts of Brisbane.

"One of my favourite things is when people look through [a telescope] for the first time, it doesn't matter if they're adults or kids, it's the gasp when they first look through and realise what they can see," Mr Fletcher said.

"We all see the beautiful photos from NASA and Hubble, but when you're actually seeing it for the first time, everyone goes 'I didn't realise I could see it like that with my own eyes.'"

Smart telescopes making astronomy easier

Mr Fletcher said more people were getting into astrophotography thanks to new technology like smart telescopes.

Unlike traditional telescopes, smart telescopes are an all-in-one system controlled by an app on a smartphone or tablet.

Users can tell the app to navigate to specific constellations or celestial bodies, and the telescope will take a series of short-exposure photos, stacking them together until the image displays clearly on the screen.

Mr Fletcher said they are often much cheaper than a full telescope rig.

"People can plonk them out in their backyards or take them away camping and set them up and then capture all these photos on their tablets, not realising what's out there."

Astrophysicist and senior lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology, Dr Michael Cowley, said students were also testing out smart telescopes for research.

"Even in the cities, they can get some pretty decent imagery," Dr Cowley said.

"We've managed to pick up some very nice features that otherwise we wouldn't be able to see, such as nebulae."

Stargazing on a budget

High-quality telescopes can cost tens of thousands of dollars, but Mr Wijeratne and Mr Fletcher said beginners do not have to invest much to give astronomy a go.

"To start, you don't need any equipment," Mr Wijeratne said.

"You need a comfortable chair, get out and have a look."

"From there, if you want to go further, you have options now."

Mr Fletcher said going to free community events were a good place to start.

"Don't just go in and buy the first thing you think you're seeing, or read a review on or listen to some influencer who's just trying to flog a product," he said.

"Just come along, you don't need to spend any money, and you can have all the views in the world."