Darrtown resident builds observatory in his backyard, shares astronomical findings with community
When Michael Titus looks up at the stars, he does it through an observatory he built in his own back yard to help him photograph the universe.
Michael Titus first discovered astrophotography while watching “Criminal Minds” with his wife in 2017. He got distracted by a bright light coming from outside. When he went to investigate, he discovered that it was coming from the moon, which he hadn’t seen shine that way before.
He decided to take a look at the moon through his fieldscope and was amazed by the detail he could see. He decided right then that he would buy a real telescope the next day, and that’s where his career in astrophotography began.
“It’s baffling to me every single time I do it,” Titus said. “I’m out there almost every clear night … you’re constantly reminded how small we are in the grand scheme of the universe.”
An engineer by training, Titus built his own observatory in his backyard. The observatory is located in Darrtown, and it allows him to photograph the universe from his own home. Titus said this makes the process significantly easier as he doesn’t have to set up and tear down his gear all the time, especially since some of the photos can take some time to get.
Titus enjoys technical challenges, and he found there to be many in astronomy and astrophotography.
For Titus, the most fascinating part of this work is seeing how small people really are. He said astrophotography really helps to put everything into perspective.
“It comes back to the sense of scale, where are we in the universe? What pursuits are there that are larger than our petty squabbles we have here on planet Earth?” Titus said. “Look at millions and billions and trillions of stars — you recognize that the fight you got into with your neighbor really is just silly.”
Titus shares his work to his Facebook page, The Chunky Astronomer. His wife helped him come up with the name, he said.
Titus joined the Cincinnati Astronomical Society (CAS) where he met Bryan Simpson, president of the society. Titus wanted to see if there were other people nearby who shared his interest, and CAS was the first organization to come up. He joined right away.
Simpson said that Titus got heavily involved with the group almost immediately and has stayed a significant contributor ever since. When the position for first vice president of CAS came up, Simpson told Titus he would be perfect for it.
“He does do a lot of outreach, which is important to him. He is a very accomplished astrophotographer,” Simpson said. “... He built his own observatory out there near Darrtown. He’s very involved in the board and making decisions about the things we do in terms of our infrastructure, our observatories and so forth.”
CAS is an organization made up entirely of volunteers. Simpson said that Titus is generous with the time he gives the group, as well as the skills and knowledge he contributes. He also helps to tutor younger members of the group.
Simpson said that in addition to his astrophotography skills, Titus is overall a great guy to be around, makes the group more inviting with his personality and is always providing valuable insight. What makes his work unique is that he is never satisfied with his own work and is always striving to do better.
“Our group is over 100 years old, and you can’t sustain a group like that without people over the course of the life of a group that have a commitment to it,” Simpson said. ”We’re lucky that we have people like Mike.”
