Andrew Ramsay — Amateur astronomer/Astrophotgrapher

In the late summer of 2021 at the tail end of what had been a rough 15 months of on and off covid lockdowns my eldest daughter began to show a great interest in astronomy. Space being a huge fascination throughout my life I was posed a question from my daughter, would it be possible to see the planets and what else is out there in space through a telescope from our back garden.

Living in the North of Aberdeen I was sceptical but possibly hopeful of what we may be able to achieve though I knew a lot of work laid ahead. As a team we started out with the basics, ascertaining is it dark enough….. thankfully bortle 5 and by pure chance our garden is pretty sheltered from any streetlight light pollution.

Next, we started to put everything in place selecting a telescope, camera, mount and so on…. Much of the advice coming from the company that were to supply our first ever kit. This of course took time and patience but finally in the middle of August 2022 on a clear late summer evening we were finally ready.

We both set up and stayed out late way past usual bedtimes for us both (smiley face) but what a night it was. We spent hours finding targets, taking 3–5-minute exposures on each, and then moving onto the next taking in the beauty that is hidden away in the night sky.

It was quite a night for myself and my eldest daughter, for her to experience a taste of what is out there and for myself to not just experience my lifelong love for space and astronomy but to be so fortunate that I could share this moment and my passion with her.

It was a very special moment for myself and my daughter and one we will never forget.