The Universe from my backyard

Imaging the wonders of the Universe from light-polluted suburbia by Matthias Steinmetz

From Suburbia to Deep Space

Most images on this site are captured from a suburban backyard observatory under light-polluted skies and are created using amateur equipment. Modern digital cameras and imaging techniques make it possible to reveal surprisingly faint structures of galaxies and nebulae that would have been impossible to capture from such a location only a few decades ago.

Featured Observation

**NGC 7331 and Supernova SN2025rbs** This blink comparison reveals the appearance of Supernova SN2025rbs in the spiral galaxy NGC 7331. Both images were captured from the same suburban backyard observatory.

Latest Images

A selection of my most recent astrophotographs, showcasing ongoing observing projects and recent additions to the image collection.

The Images

All my astro images can be found on astrobin, grouped by image type and some of the prominent catalogues (like Messier’s catalogue or Chip Arp’s catalog of peculiar galaxies). The astrobin website for astrophotographers not only provides different versions of an image, it also features data in the data collection, the astrometry of the environment and some additional information on the object or the genesis of the image.

My 2025 images

My favorite 2024 images

NGC 1931 - "The Fly" — NGC 1931 – “The Fly”

About me

I was always fascinated by the night sky and the objects of the cosmos. Grown up in the space ages, I vividly remember as a kindergarten kid the Apollo astronauts walking on the Moon, and a night we watched out for skylab crossing. As a highschool student I got a telescope and got some first experiences with astrophotography – mostly Lunar and planetary, and still with photographic film. I was fortunate that I could make my passion to my profession – see my professional website for some background on me and my research activities.

But I always saw astronomy not only as fundamental research but also as cultural contribution to humanity – the objects of the sky are not only most fascinating but also breathtakingly beautiful!

With the kids grown up, the Corona pandemic limiting activities, and comet Neowise prominently decorating the night sky in 2020, I reactivated my old passion with the special emphasis to what can be achieved from standard suburbia conditions – in my case southwest of the Berlin metropolitan area.