Alex Cozonis

Contributor

Before Alex Cozonis delved into deep sky astrophotography, he spent 12 years as a bird photographer. In 2021, he sold all his Sony equipment and visited a local astronomy shop, where he purchased his first mount (EQ6-R), a 2600MC camera, a Sky-Watcher 72ED, a guide camera/scope, and a small battery. Initially, Alex believed he needed to be in dark skies away from city lights for astrophotography. His first trip to a remote location proved to be an uncomfortable experience, as staying alone in a desolate place until 5 AM was far from pleasant.

Realizing this wasn't sustainable, Alex decided to try imaging from his parents' backyard, as he lived in an apartment. To his surprise, using a duo narrowband filter yielded excellent results. Encouraged, he ventured into broadband targets like M42, M31, and M45, achieving similarly impressive outcomes. Now, Alex can image remotely from his apartment, thanks to a security camera that allows him to monitor the setup.

As he progressed, Alex added a second mount (Star Adventurer GTi), an FMA180 Pro, and a RisingCam IMX571. He upgraded his power source to a Bluetti EB70 and replaced the Sky-Watcher 72ED with a TSOptics CF90, a significantly better telescope. Despite his poor cable management, Alex has to set up and break down his equipment every night, leaving little time for proper organization.

Although he officially started in 2021, Alex had been researching deep sky astrophotography for many years. He spent considerable time learning about processing techniques and necessary software, which initially seemed daunting. A turning point came when he captured a widefield shot of the Milky Way with his Sony A6000, including a tiny smudge that turned out to be M31, a galaxy 2.5 million light-years away. This remarkable achievement sparked his deep interest in deep sky astrophotography.