Harshwardhan Pathak has won three NASA APODs and many more awards for his deep-sky imaging processing using data captured from remote telescopes.
Learn more about his success in this interview.
“I observe my deep sky images remotely from Telescope Live and observe the sun from my home’s roof.”
What’s Your Focus in Astrophotography?
Although I do nightscapes and planetary imaging, I mostly love deep sky imaging. I usually do this using a remote setup at Telescope Live.
I started my astrophotography journey back in 2020 during the pandemic when I joined Uttar Pradesh Amateur Astronomers Club (UPAAC).
Then under my super seniors Mr. Sumit Kumar Srivastava (Scientific Officer, Department of Science and Technology, India), Dr. Alka Misra (Department of Astronomy, University of Lucknow), and Amritanshu Vajpayee (Mentor UPAAC) I was exposed to astrophotography.
I then took various online workshops about astrophotography which helped me hugely.
“I invest in remote imaging because I can access very high-end equipment that is otherwise cost prohibitive”
Where Do You Do Your Imaging?
I live in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India and due to heavy light pollution I can only really do solar observation from my roof.
For this reason I decided that it wasn’t worth investing on equipment for myself.
Instead I invest in remote imaging because I can access very high-end equipment that is otherwise cost prohibitive.
What Gear Do You Use?
Equipment that I use through Telescope Live is:
- Planewave CDK 24 telescope
- Takahashi FSQ 106ED telescope
- QHY 600M Pro camera
- Mathis MI-1000/1250 mount with absolute encoders
- Paramount MX+ mount
- Celestron CGX mount
- Astrodon LRGB and Narrowband filters
From my roof I have:
What Post-Processing Do You Do?
I use:
I don’t use any fancy AI software like RC Astro tools.
How Did You Learn Astro Processing?
I took various workshops to help me polish my skills and I also followed some world renowned astrophotographers:
- Adam Block – his free tutorials are the best for understanding the mechanics of Pixinsight and his deep understanding has helped many astrophotographers.
- AstroBackyard – his tutorials helped me learn Photoshop
I also gained lots of knowledge and techniques by my buddy astrophotographers:
- Shikhar Gupta (Fornax mount brand ambassador)
- Soumydeep Mukherjee (Astrophotographer of the Year 2022 in the Solar System category)
- Utkarsh Mishra (Astrophotographer of the Year 2023 in the Galaxy category).
About You – Harshwardhan Pathak
I am from Lucknow Uttar Pradesh, India, and am a Bachelor student (Physics and Astronomy) at the University of Lucknow.
I have 3 NASA APOD’S, 4 features in APOD, 3 AAPOD2’s, 1 APOD Astronomia and I have had about 40 images published in outlets like Astronomy magazine, BBC Sky At Night, and Sky & Telescope magazine, amongst others.
My proudest moment was when I won my first International competition – the Hunting Outbursting Young Stars (HOYS) Astro-Picture Competition conducted by the University of Kent in the UK.
You can follow me on Instagram @mr.cosmic.wanderer.
