New member interested in photometry and scientific astrophotography

Photometry Beginner Introductions Citizen Science
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Have you ever done photometry with your setup?
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Steven Ayres avatar
Steven Ayres avatar

Hey everyone,

Just joined AstroBin and figured I would introduce myself.

I am fairly new to all of this and have been spending most of my time learning the technical side of telescope control, imaging workflows, calibration frames, and photometry. I have not really focused much on traditional astrophotography yet since I have been more interested in the science and data side of things.

Current setup is an HEQ5 with an 80ED and a mono camera with a Johnson V filter. Right now I am mostly working on getting everything consistent and repeatable and learning as much as I can along the way.

Curious how many people here are into photometry or other science focused observing compared to imaging for visual results.

Looking forward to learning from everyone here.

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Interactive Sky avatar
Interactive Sky avatar

Steven Ayres · May 11, 2026, 10:09 PM

Hey everyone,

Just joined AstroBin and figured I would introduce myself.

I am fairly new to all of this and have been spending most of my time learning the technical side of telescope control, imaging workflows, calibration frames, and photometry. I have not really focused much on traditional astrophotography yet since I have been more interested in the science and data side of things.

Current setup is an HEQ5 with an 80ED and a mono camera with a Johnson V filter. Right now I am mostly working on getting everything consistent and repeatable and learning as much as I can along the way.

Curious how many people here are into photometry or other science focused observing compared to imaging for visual results.

Looking forward to learning from everyone here.

Welcome to the AstroBin community!

I have never done photometry or any kind of serious scientific research myself, but I am a PN hunter. I spend time checking different sky surveys and trying to find new nebulae, so I guess that could count as some kind of scientific contribution.

I think it is really interesting to see more people getting into the scientific side of astronomy and not only imaging for visual results.

Anyways, welcome to AstroBin, and Clear Skies!

Well written Respectful Engaging Supportive
Steven Ayres avatar
Steven Ayres avatar

Interactive Sky · May 11, 2026, 10:45 PM

Steven Ayres · May 11, 2026, 10:09 PM

Hey everyone,

Just joined AstroBin and figured I would introduce myself.

I am fairly new to all of this and have been spending most of my time learning the technical side of telescope control, imaging workflows, calibration frames, and photometry. I have not really focused much on traditional astrophotography yet since I have been more interested in the science and data side of things.

Current setup is an HEQ5 with an 80ED and a mono camera with a Johnson V filter. Right now I am mostly working on getting everything consistent and repeatable and learning as much as I can along the way.

Curious how many people here are into photometry or other science focused observing compared to imaging for visual results.

Looking forward to learning from everyone here.

Welcome to the AstroBin community!

I have never done photometry or any kind of serious scientific research myself, but I am a PN hunter. I spend time checking different sky surveys and trying to find new nebulae, so I guess that could count as some kind of scientific contribution.

I think it is really interesting to see more people getting into the scientific side of astronomy and not only imaging for visual results.

Anyways, welcome to AstroBin, and Clear Skies!

Thank you, I appreciate it.

Honestly, I would absolutely count that as a scientific contribution. Finding and identifying things that might otherwise go unnoticed is a huge part of astronomy. That is actually one of the things I find really exciting about this hobby in general. Even individuals with modest equipment or enough patience can still contribute meaningful data or discoveries.

PN hunting sounds really interesting honestly. I have spent most of my time on the technical and data side so far, but I would like to branch out more as I learn.

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Craig Towell avatar
Craig Towell avatar

I’ve done a bit of exoplanet transit detection, it was very satisfying and I’d love to do more but I had software issues and just couldn’t get AstraimageJ to work consistently, so I gave it up really. I’m not very good with the software/computer side of things unfortunately!

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Interactive Sky avatar

Craig Towell · May 12, 2026, 06:02 AM

I’ve done a bit of exoplanet transit detection, it was very satisfying and I’d love to do more but I had software issues and just couldn’t get AstraimageJ to work consistently, so I gave it up really. I’m not very good with the software/computer side of things unfortunately!

Hello, Craig!

I also tried exoplanet transit detection at some point and found Siril to be useful for this.

If you would like to collaborate, I would love to help with the software/computer side of it.

Clear Skies!

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Steven Ayres avatar
Steven Ayres avatar

Craig Towell · May 12, 2026, 06:02 AM

I’ve done a bit of exoplanet transit detection, it was very satisfying and I’d love to do more but I had software issues and just couldn’t get AstraimageJ to work consistently, so I gave it up really. I’m not very good with the software/computer side of things unfortunately!

Honestly, I think that is probably one of the biggest barriers keeping more people from getting into the scientific side of astronomy. The actual observation side can be really rewarding, but the software side can become frustrating fast when things refuse to cooperate.

That is actually one of the things that started pushing me deeper into this side of astronomy in the first place. There seems to be a pretty big gap between people interested in contributing data and software that feels approachable and reliable enough to keep them going.

Really cool that you were able to successfully detect exoplanet transits though. That had to feel incredible the first time it worked.

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