LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- If you've been a fan of WDRB Chief Meteorologist Marc Weinberg on social media over the past couple of years, you've probably seen his astrophotography.
Whether it's images of the Andromeda Galaxy or the Great Hercules Cluster, Weinberg enjoys pointing his telescope toward the sky and snapping colorful images of stellar objects.
"So as someone who has loved meteorology my whole life, basically, I've always been interested in the kind of look-up part of earth and what surrounds it," he said. "And so I made a career out of meteorology and then I was always curious what lies beyond our atmosphere. And that was kind of where I thought that I would try to get a telescope."
It was a hobby forged out of COVID-19 pandemic patterns and social distancing.
"For me, it was COVID and being kind of at home a lot more that spurred on — that was kind of the drive for me to actually make the jump into maybe making this dream into somewhat of a reality," he said.
And when he thinks about it, Weinberg said he shouldn't have been surprised that he was drawn to the stars.
"You know, the interesting thing is as I look through my life, I see the things that I've really, really enjoyed," he said. "I was a storm chaser many years ago in college. I love SCUBA diving. Now, what's the kind of constant in there? It's a camera."
And there's a camera involved in this hobby too, a special kind of camera that enables Weinberg to collect images from his telescope, process them and share them with the world on social media.
On this night in particular, Weinberg is trying to get an image of the Eagle Nebula.
"The Eagle Nebula is special because the Eagle Nebula carries the Pillars of Creation, which was made ultra-, ultra-, ultra-famous by the Hubble Telescope," Weinberg said.
As he sets up his camera, Weinberg recalls the first galaxy he ever imaged: The Andromeda Galaxy.
"I've dreamed about some of this stuff," he said. "For me, I've always wanted to see another galaxy. And Andromeda is one of our sister galaxies. And I remember the moment I captured Andromeda and saw if for the first time. I felt like I felt when I saw the total solar eclipse. I felt like it was emotional."
Finally, after getting his telescope polar-aligned and using the North Star as an anchor for tracking, Weinberg is able to target the Eagle Nebula.
"There you go," he said, looking at his monitor. "There's the Pillars of Creation."
He takes a low resolution image, then takes a higher-res one.
"I'll collect about 60 frames data and images tonight, and then after tonight is over and I tear the telescope down, I'll put that all together and create the final image," he said. "I really think that the Eagle Nebula and the Pillars of Creation are going to be stunning. For me? I can’t wait to see the final product."
And you can see it now. That image is attached to this story.
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