"Hey, Im CJ aka @twin_seestar_astro, 24, from Hamilton, New Zealand

Every New Years I challenge myself to pick a completely new hobby and commit to it for the year. On January 1st, 2025, that hobby became astronomy and astrophotography. I started with a 10” Dobsonian and quickly fell in love, but knew I wanted to go deeper.

Not long after, I picked up my first Seestar S50,  That soon turned into a Twin S50 setup, which Ive now dedicated to long exposures Projects , pushing the S50s to their limits to see just how much detail they can capture, and I share the results on Instagram.

Being based in the Southern Hemisphere gives me access to targets many people never get to see — the Carina Nebula, Centaurus A, Fornax Cluster, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.

Running two Seestars gives me the flexibility to either double my exposure time on a single target or capture multiple objects in one night, which is especially useful here in Aotearoa — the “Land of the Long White Cloud.” I combine data from both scopes using Siril and GraXpert, and the results always blow me away.

One of my favourite parts of owning the S50 is bringing it to my local astronomy club and letting others use it. I’m blind in one eye, so I understand how limiting traditional eyepiece observing can be. Having a Seestar with a screen really helps those with poor vision not be left out. 

This year, my goal is to complete multi 100+ hour deep-sky projects on  Southern Hemisphere targets and share the full journey and results with the community."