From My Backyard to the Universe: Rob Wadd's Seestar Journey

I had been interested in taking photos of the night sky for almost 2 decades. The cost of entry into the hobby, and the technical knowledge required to set up and operate an imaging scope at the time prevented me from joining in.

I first heard rumblings about a "Seestar" in late 2023. I was interested, but I did not pull the trigger on purchasing the S50 until early 2024. I was afraid it sounded too good to be true and wasn’t interested in being set up for disappointment.
Naturally, as soon as the S50 delivered, clouds rolled in…and kept rolling in…for over a week.

When skies cleared, I set the little scope up in my backyard and got connected. No leveling. No compass calibration. No stacking subs. On the Sky Atlas I found the one thing I’d ever heard of, Andromeda, pushed the GoTo button, and…… it went! Arm moved, scope rotated and after a few minutes, I could make out something. I was stunned!

After 19 minutes, I felt like I had done enough work on THAT target and after a bit of looking for something else that sounded familiar, I settled on the Moon. The scope found it immediately and I had one of the greatest pictures of the moon that I’d ever seen! Well, at least the best I’d ever managed.

I used the S50 for all of about 20 minutes that night. But after 20 minutes, one very, very underdone image of Andromeda and a decent lunar picture, I was hooked. And what I realize now is that on that night, my life changed. Dramatically.

Since I got the S50 two years ago I’ve added three more Seestars: 2 S30s and an S30 Pro. If I can see enough stars that the scopes can get Polar Alignment and there is no forecast of winds or precipitation, they are out working. Thanks to the Planning function, I know the scope will continue its work overnight, even with periods of complete cloud cover.When, or if, the skies clear, the scope will resume capturing on plan.

In my free time, working on this astronomy journey made possible by my Seestars is what I do. If I’m not setting up the scopes, I’m processing images or planning for the next opportunity to set up. I watch Astronomic and the local weather forecast like a hawk and have learned not to trust either any further out than about an hour. I pour over the official Facebook Group looking for new targets, new processing tips and new images that excite me and inspire me. And the members of this group are some of the best people I know. And they are absolute wizards at the Seestar and processing and understanding what they are seeing and working on. People like Jim, Andrej, Michael, Jason, Simon, Joshua, Joe, Gunter, Mark, Jody, Lester and hundreds more have motivated me to learn more, study harder and to keep looking up. Without the help of the members of this group, I would still be trying to figure out how to get the S50 out of its box.

Through these amazing pieces of technology, none bigger than the size of a small lunchbox, I have captured, and more importantly to me, learned about objects in the skies around us that I had never heard of, let alone even imagined.

I am now comfortable with words and phrases such as Bortle Class, nebulosity, subframe, polar alignment, EQ wedge, integration, mega parsec and gravitational lensing. I’ll admit, I’m still a little shaky on that one, but I get the idea.

I am truly blessed in this life. My amazing wife of 31 years is truly my best friend. She’s the rock in my life, the person who makes me laugh every day, and the best traveling partner ever. She is probably tired of hearing “Boy, this would be a great place to set up the scopes!” everywhere we visit that is relatively flat and somewhat treeless, but she is still very supportive of what she calls my obsession. Even though she has no interest in running the scopes, I do catch her looking up at the skies almost as often as I do, to see if the stars are shining.

We have two pups, both rescues, both with hard lives behind them. Gabe, our Beagle, is a rescue from research lab. Kai, our older female is a Beagle / Plott Hound mix. She was rescued from a veterinary school. They are both challenges, but the reward we feel daily just knowing that they are safe and loved is far greater than anything we’ve faced because of their past.

And, in September of 2025, I retired from a 45-year career in Supply Chain. It was a good career, but honestly, I didn’t find the last few years challenging. I didn’t feel like I was learning anything exciting anymore. And it was time for something “new.”

The Seestar came along at the perfect moment. I began learning again. Daily. I’ve made friends from all over the world. And I know that every morning I bring the scopes in from the backyard, I’m going to see something beautiful and incredible.

I have a deep sense of gratitude to the folks at Seestar / ZWO. Not only did they give me the opportunity to explore the deep sky, their upgrades over the past two years have given me better ways to do it. They make this hobby obtainable, challenging without being intimidating and most of all, fun.

Seestar, you have brought the Universe to my backyard. And I will forever be grateful.