When I was a kid, I thought that astronomy needed big telescopes, well out of the financial reach of my family. They're still fairly expensive these days, but prices have come down drastically.

I also think that we are yet to see the mobile phone astrophotography revolution - but there are apps that are showing signs this is coming.

One of the things that has always fascinated me about astronomy is spectra. There is so much data in the light, that nearly all our knowledge of the Universe comes from it.

A couple years back, I bought a small grating filter that allows me to separate star light into its spectrum and measure it from my own backyard telescope. The results are fantastic!

Need to get back into it this summer!

Here's the spectra of a star and of a globular cluster I captured earlier this year.

#Astrophysics #Astrodon #Spectrum