Hannah Rochford — Astrophotographer/Amateur Astronomer

Hello! My name is Hannah, from Somerset, UK, and I have had a slight interest in astronomy for my whole life, but that really ramped up when I got hold of a star tracker in 2021, and started imaging the deep sky. I took 3 photos with that tracker, and then invested in a much more in-depth set up, with a mono camera, narrowband filters, and a much more heavy duty equatorial mount. Truth be told I didn’t touch the new equipment for a couple of months because I was so scared of it!! When I did finally get it up and running, I just wish I had done it sooner!

The first image I took with that set up was of the rosette nebula, and I remember seeing the first 5 minute hydrogen alpha sub coming in, oh boy was that emotional. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, the detail, the beauty, the fact that I owned equipment that could capture something like that!! I finished up that project in a few nights, then went to the California nebula, then the next clear night I went to my third deep sky target with that set up, the heart nebula, IC 1805.

I couldn’t quite believe the first sub that came in (again, hydrogen alpha) I cried, it was incredibly emotional, as I realised that I could image this target that I had seen by other astrophotographers, and I was so excited about capturing the data for it. It went on to be the winning image for the APOTY best newcomer category, which I still can’t believe to this day.

The beauty of the night sky is so unique, capturing Astronomy photographs is the perfect blend of science and art, and I love how I can use my own creative and artistic take on how I process it. On cloudy nights, I practice processing with old data, there is always room to grow, and always more to learn! I have recently embarked on taking a GCSE in Astronomy, which I start this month, and can’t wait to get stuck into.

There was never the option of that at school, so to be able to access it as an adult is wonderful. I have recently started to get more into landscape astrophotography, Milkyway, meteor showers, and aurora, which is fantastic this year as the sun is reverses its polarity next year in 2025, so it’s spewing out loads of gas and strong CME’s, which of course mean more aurora! There is nothing better than sitting under a blanket of stars on a clear, peaceful night.

It soothes my soul and enforces the feeling that’s the most incredible, how lucky we are to be here, and how the small struggles in life are exactly that, small! Astrophotography has become such an important part of my life, and it makes me so happy!

Being able to use an app like Picastro to showcase our images is a big step in the community, to be able to see the details in such depth is truly wonderful. Astrophotography truly is an addiction (the best kind!)

Clear skies to you all!

Editor Note: Hannah is an award winning astrophotographer and has a keen interest in astronomy. She has had several exhibitions of her astronomy images and has given talks for the BBC Sky at Night Masterclass, September 2023 and was a panellist at the RGM ‘Night of Astrophotography’ earlier in this year. She has also won two Astronomy Pictures of the day (APOD) for her Thor’s Helmet deep sky image and an honourable mention for her Abell 85 deep sky object.