From Balcony Dreams to Deep Space — Marcin’s Seestar Story

15 luglio 2025

Marcin, Seestar and his cat balcony net

For 40 years, Marcin “czach” Trzaska has stared at the Polish sky, wondering what lies beyond. A retired police officer from Wrocław, he’s chased stars since 1985, when Halley’s Comet first sparked his awe. But here’s the thing: He never thought he—no observatory, no dark-sky retreats, just a tiny balcony (half-netted to keep his cat safe!) under Bortle 6 glow—could ever touch the cosmos.

Then Seestar S50 arrived.

“I thought astrophotography was for pros with big gear and empty wallets,” he laughs. “Turns out, I was wrong. Minutes after unboxing, I was shooting M42 like it was nothing.”

From quick snaps of M31 to 9.5 hours of patience on the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) over several nights—all from that same balcony. When the final image loaded? “I swear, I forgot where I was. It felt like I’d floated out there, right into the spiral arms.”

But let’s talk about the unreal stuff:

He caught light from quasars billions of light-years away. 3C273 (2.4 billion light-years). TON-618 (18.2 billion light-years)—one of the farthest objects known to humanity. All with a telescope lighter than a gallon of milk.

“Seestar doesn’t need mountains,” he says. “Just someone who looks up and thinks, ‘What if?’”

Marcin’s balcony isn’t just a spot for his cat—it’s a launchpad. And that’s the magic: The universe isn’t just for experts. It’s for anyone brave enough to point a lens at the sky.