Advanced Astrophotography by Marcel Drechsler

Happy Easter, fellow stargazers! Today we'd like to introduce you to astrophotographer and amateur astronomer Marcel Drechsler.

Hello Marcel, how did you get started with this hobby?

Hello Rudi and Karl, my name is Marcel, and I'm an astrophotographer and amateur astronomer from Bärenstein in Saxony.

I have two passions. One is for science, for my love of astronomy, cosmology, and physics. The other is for the aesthetics and beauty of the universe, which can be captured through photography.

My freelance work as a graphic designer makes photography essential. I've been taking photos since my early teens.

I only started astrophotography five years ago. I began with a small setup and my old DSLR camera attached to a telescope. Later, I acquired larger telescopes and my first DSLR cameras modified for astrophotography. My equipment gradually grew, and in 2016, I built my own observatory. Gone are the days when I had to drive out into the fields with all my equipment, sometimes in freezing temperatures, to find a dark spot for my gear. An observatory makes the process considerably easier, as the time-consuming setup is eliminated, allowing me to dedicate myself entirely to the photography.

For me, astrophotography means constantly summoning the patience to expose cosmic objects for weeks and months, accumulating dozens of hours of exposure time, and coaxing every photon out of a distant nebula.

Often staying up for three, four, or five nights while ordinary people are comfortably in bed, only to then go to work the next morning wide-eyed.

But astrophotography also means enduring long dry spells, sometimes lasting weeks or even months, without a single clear night, without losing my enthusiasm for the hobby, and simultaneously spending a lot of money on the necessary equipment, foregoing the occasional vacation. And all this effort for, on average, less than a single image per month, which can sometimes amount to up to 80 hours of total work. And why do I do this? Because I love it. Because it's my passion, and I can't imagine a more wonderful hobby than astronomy.

In my photos, I place particular emphasis on very deep exposure. For me, there are no quick shots or short-exposure objects. An image is exposed for as long as possible. Every target is carefully selected, planned, and researched over days and weeks in advance. A perfect position of the object in the photo is the ultimate goal.

But I'm rambling on and on; you asked how I got started with astronomy.

Can you really "start" loving astronomy? I think it's simply in your blood, at least that's how it is for me.

Since childhood, I've been fascinated by the cosmos. I wondered how the universe came into being, how it works, and how it will evolve.

I bought my first telescope when I was 12 or 13. I had to save up for a long time and even worked in my parents' business during summer school holidays to afford it. It wasn't anything special, to be precise; it was just a cheap reactor telescope made mostly of plastic. But I was a complete beginner and I was curious.

The first look through the telescope was very impressive. If I remember correctly, it was the planet Mars that I observed first. It was a sublime feeling that I still remember very well.
The catalyst for my desire to get into astrophotography was Comet Hale-Bob in 1997. I quickly realized that my old telescope was completely unsuitable for astrophotography. It lacked tracking, the optics weren't good, and the telescope's overall quality simply wasn't designed for the sport. Nevertheless, Hale-Bob ignited a spark within me. My first "real" deep-sky photo wasn't taken until relatively late, around 2015. My very first object at that time was M31. It seemed like a worthwhile target to start with. The feeling of photographing something so distant for the first time is hard to describe. Although I have to admit, seeing the core of M31 in real time was actually an even better feeling ;-)

I think that astrophotography, in general, is one of the most complex forms of photography. No other requires so much knowledge, patience, and technical skill. For me personally, despite the technical challenges, the hardest part is always having patience and persevering, even when the weather doesn't allow for a single photo for months. It's about tenaciously pursuing my goals and always keeping an eye on the project to get the perfect shot.

Of course, every astrophotographer is familiar with hundreds of other problems that can drive us to despair night after night. Every time you solve one problem, another one arises. I don't know a single colleague for whom everything always goes perfectly. Patience and dedication are the path to success. That sounds poetic, but it's true.

My second great passion in astronomy is the discovery of previously unknown cosmic objects. I'm constantly searching for undiscovered planetary nebulae, galaxies, and reflection nebulae. When selecting my targets, unusual objects are at the top of my list. Through my research and search for new objects, I discovered a new reflection nebula in the constellation Camelopardalis in September 2018. The nebula is a very rare yellow-orange reflection nebula surrounding the variable star BE Camelopardalis. The new nebula was named "Finn's Nebula" after my young nephew and was photographed with an exposure time of over 35 hours.

Since the beginning of 2019, I have intensified my research even further. Together with my friend and colleague Xavier Strottner from France, I am scouring the vastness of space for objects previously unknown to science. In doing so, we two amateur astronomers have made several discoveries that have caused quite a stir in the scientific community. To date, our Franco-German team has discovered and photographed dozens of new "Strottner-Drechsler" objects. Astrophotographers around the world are now eager to be the first to photograph one of these new objects. For me, these joint discoveries are the best example of the close friendship between our two countries.

Thank you for your contribution, Marcel.