Pune Amateur Astrophotographer spends 40 hours processing 50,000 Images to Sew a Picture of the Moon Virus

Prathamesh Jaju, 16, began taking formal astronomy courses at Jyotirvidya Parisanstha, India’s oldest amateur club, three years ago, and now the image he has created has changed his life.

A photo of the virus month was taken within four hours of Pune by Prathamesh Jaju.
Young people, especially those in high school, often ask for high-quality cell phones, playgrounds, or motorcycles as gifts. But for Prathamesh Jaju in the city, who recently completed Class X, telescopes and cameras – both for viewing and photographing celestial objects. So two years ago, telescopes and cameras were always his partners.

Jaju started taking formal astronomy courses at Jyotirvidya Parisanstha (JVP), the oldest Astro club in Pune in Pune, three years ago. But Jaju didn’t know that one day a picture of the moon he would take spread to him.

What started as a hobby and a hobby after watching Star Wars and other fictional movies, Jaju’s astrophotography is now a full-time love story.

Last year, the nationwide closure collided with his X-grade plans, and he was unable to get out. So when he finally got his chance earlier this month, he took full advantage of it, and the result was a picture that changed his life for the better.

“My initial idea was to have a month in November last year, but board exams kept me busy. In May, I finally managed to set up a camera and telescope and shot on May 3,” said a student at Vidya Bhavan High School in Pune.

With a picture of the virus and attempts to capture the moon in all possible layers, Jaju said, “I used the JVP telescope and shot 38 videos with many holes and every inch of the moon, as if I were filming a panoramic. These videos had no frames—50 000 in one color. A blue and orange transition was taken, showing many mineral songs on the face of the moon. “

Astronomy is a big story, but one thing is astrophotography that taught this 16-year-old boy to be patient.

“I think I have more patience now than I did in the past, and I was more attentive on finding the right opportunity, managing and processing the number of data images,” he added.

With a photo of the month, posted on Reddit and on his Instagram accounts, the boy manages pictures and videos of up to 18GB. It took about 40 hours to process one image.

Jaju may have taken astrophotography recently, but he is already in contact with some of the world’s most famous and well-known astronomers.

“I used to contact them online asking for suggestions, and I used to get advice on technological advances,” said Jaju, one of JVP’s new volunteers. They carried more than a dozen telescopes from four to 11 inches in diameter.

Aniruddha Deshpande, head of JVP, said, “We appreciate this image at this level of detail provided by an untrained photographer.

Light pollution in major cities, Jaju shares, is one of the biggest challenges preventing photographers from seeing the sky at night. And he saw it after visiting the Spiti region in Himachal Pradesh in 2018.

“The Himalayan mountains is one of the few and most beautiful places to shoot stars and galaxies. Other than that, it is difficult to find dark places, and the sky is full of bright stars everywhere,” said Jaju, who plans to study Astronomy. in the future.