I’ve always wanted a telescope. Something I could use to take photos and videos of the night sky with my phone or camera. I recently came across a YouTube video about the Zwo Seestar S50, but since this is my first telescope, I decided to start with the more beginner-friendly S30 and bought it for my birthday.

I’ve owned it for a couple of months, but only recently started using it seriously. Here are some of the first photos I captured with it on July 4, 2025:

Auto-generated description: A detailed photograph of the moon shows its craters and surface features against a black sky.

Auto-generated description: A detailed view of the moon's surface, highlighting its craters and dark patches.

These images were taken right from my front yard — I still can’t believe the clarity. Here’s one I took with my phone (Galaxy S24 Ultra, no zoom) while I was setting up the Seestar:

Auto-generated description: A nighttime sky is partially covered with clouds and silhouettes of trees, with a bright moon visible in the center.

Later that evening, we heard fireworks going off in the distance. While the moon was the star of the night, I also caught this fun fireworks shot from our front yard. We were hearing more fireworks from our neighbors all around us than we were actually seeing.

Auto-generated description: A warmly lit house is surrounded by trees and shrubs under a night sky.

I’m planning to set up a dedicated page in the future as I learn more about using the Seestar S30. I hope you enjoyed these photos as much as I enjoyed experimenting with the telescope. It’s truly amazing how it filters out light and zooms in on the moon with such detail.

#astronomy #telescopes #moon #personal