Nicole Poersch — Astrophotographer/Amateur Astronomer

My first view of …

I can remember it very well when my sister got a refractor for her birthday. It was not a very good telescope, just a small one for kids but it was enough to mesmerise us all.

My dad set it up in their bedroom and pointed it out the window. It took ages to find a target but then my dad found something to look at.. It was my sister’s turn first - obviously, because it was her telescope. I couldn’t wait until I was allowed to look through the eyepiece myself.

I must have only been about 6 or 7 years old at the time.. finally - it was my turn!!!! And WOOOOW …. there it was - SATURN in all its glory!! It was tiny but I remember to have clearly seen its rings. It looked so unreal and beautiful. I was already interested in the universe before seeing Saturn with my own eyes.

We often went to our friend’s place and sat outside in their garden to watch meteor showers.

Seeing Saturn was different though. It’s hard to describe the feeling I had when observing it for the very first time. It’s probably best described to feeling very close to the universe and very small at the same time - a realisation that we are on a tiny planet in a vast universe. To some it’s a scary thought but to me it’s extremely intriguing.

Astronomy has always been a part of my life and my fascination for it has never vanished. It eventually lead me to explore the universe further with my own astrophotography equipment.

In November 2021 I took my first image of the Andromeda Galaxy and have since then imaged quite a few other targets, mainly emission nebulas.

I can’t imagine that I will ever loose interest in our beautiful cosmos and hope to inspire others to open their eyes to the amazing worlds above our heads.

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