A doctor captures stunning photos of galaxies two million light-years away from his back garden in his spare time.
Syed Taha, 29, has captured Comet Neowise, nebulae, constellations, and galaxies as far as two million light-years away.
“I see galaxies that are millions of light-years away, really bright single stars, constellations,” said the pediatric doctor from Oadby, Leicestershire.
“It’s hard to describe what you’re seeing. You’re seeing something as it appears in the past.
“The light from objects is two million light-years away so we’re seeing the galaxy as it was two million light-years ago. It’s like looking into the past.
“Comet Neowise is incredibly bright, the brightest we have seen for a long time and that’s not going to be back for one thousand years.
“Nebula is cloud and dust and it’s fascinating to look at the way they interact with the lights and gases which make them glow different colors.”
Syed shares his incredible photos on social media and admits that people don’t believe he’s actually taken them.
“Generally, people think the photos are jaw dropping, it’s shock and then it’s amazement,” he said.
“People will ask three or four times if I’m sure that I took them. They don’t believe me.
“They wish they could take photos like that and I tell them that they can with patience and time investment.”
Syed got his first telescope while he was at university but embraced his new hobby just a few years ago.
Syed takes all the snaps from his back garden with his telescope and wants to use them to encourage others to take an interest in astronomy.
He said, “I take the photos from my garden. I just set the telescope up outside and run it from indoors, I can be awake for most of the night so it takes dedication.
“I can do it from the comfort of my own home. I would like to show people that even from home and with the bright city lighting, it is possible.
“Most of us live in cities rather than amazing dark areas.
“My garden has two streetlights either side and it still works.
“The main reason I show my photos is because a lot of people haven’t seen the sky without light pollution.
“It’s important to me to make people aware of what they’re missing out on. I’m a children’s nurse and I think it would be amazing to get children interested.
“I’ve always been interested in space and I used to watch documentaries as a kid but I never thought much into what I was actually seeing and as I got older I thought it would be nice to see those things myself.”
Friends Read Free