Connor Matherne.
Connor Matherne, planetary scientist by day and astrophotographer by night, holds multiple awards and recognitions in both the science and photography world. His most recent research on Martian geology of Jezero Crater, landing site of NASA’s new Martian rover Perseverance, was published in the journal Icarus. Matherne has been a team member of Deep Sky West Observatory for years across multiple systems, his favorite however is the TOA-150 in Chile. As a relatively young member of the astrophotography community, Matherne has used social media to spread his images to all corners of the globe and millions of eyes while simultaneously bringing the hobby and science behind it to many who would have otherwise found it to be out of reach. Matherne additionally uses his platform to share information on the targets, and what the images are showing to erase long-standing myths such as how the images are renderings, or how they are outside of the visible spectrum. Due to this, Matherne’s favorite targets are galaxies since they are portrayed in true color while also being easily recognizable.
His images can be found on:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cosmic.speck/
His website: https://www.cosmicspeck.com/