Joe Paese
Amateur Astronomer
Expertise:
Stargazing
Like many, Joe Paese has a lifetime of stargazing under his belt but only took up amateur astronomy and astrophotography in 2013. He has a background in mechanical engineering, so his real interests lie in figuring out what makes things work, including the universe. After doing visual astronomy on a 10" Mead Light-Bridge Dobsonian for a while, he, like most people, put his smartphone up to the eyepiece to take a picture of the moon. Little did he know that he'd be signing an astrophotography contract with the heavens. Since then, his hobby has evolved primarily into astrophotography, with a smaller emphasis on visual observation when doing outreach and group sessions. He shoots all his photos on a very budget-friendly Sky Watcher 130-PDS Newtonian with cooled astro-cameras. You can often find him posting his pictures on Reddit in the r/telescopes or r/astrophotography subreddits or challenging the norm on cloudy nights.