Tom Urbain

Tom Urbain

About Author

Tom Urbain is an amateur astronomer, astrophotographer, and the original founder of Starlust.org, a space-focused website he launched in 2019 with one simple goal: to make the night sky feel less intimidating and more accessible to everyone. With no formal background in astronomy, Tom taught himself everything from telescope optics to lunar photography, a journey that began as a personal hobby and grew into a widely read online resource for stargazers around the world.
Driven by curiosity and a deep love for space, Tom spent years researching and creating hands-on guides for beginners, testing gear in his backyard in Manchester, and sharing monthly night-sky highlights to help readers reconnect with the cosmos. His approachable writing style and practical advice quickly earned him a loyal audience, many of whom were discovering astronomy for the first time.
When he’s not out chasing meteor showers or photographing the Moon through his telescope, Tom can often be found speaking on podcasts, contributing to astronomy communities, and advocating for dark-sky preservation. He currently lives in Manchester, UK, where despite the glow of city lights, he still manages to find wonder in the stars.

Owl Nebula

M97, the Owl Nebula lies relatively nearby at 2,300 light-years from our Sun, so it appears 3.2 arcminutes in diameter – only ten times smaller than the Full Moon.
Nov 21, 2023

Orion Nebula

In winter evenings Orion the Hunter stands high in the southeast at midnight, with his shield and club raised against the fierce charge of neighboring Taurus the Bull.
Nov 21, 2023

Whirlpool Galaxy

Of all the countless island universes scattered across the sky, none seem as exciting as M51, the renowned Whirlpool Galaxy.
Nov 21, 2023

The Virgo Cluster

The Virgo-Coma Cluster of Galaxies is a huge aggregation of systems at a mean distance of around 60 million light-years.
Nov 21, 2023

The Hyades Star Cluster

The Hyades (also catalogued as Melotte 25) are one of the major tourist attractions in the sky
Nov 21, 2023

Stephan’s Quintet

Stephan’s Quintet is a remarkable compact group of galaxies which is also known as Hickson 92 and Arp 319.
Nov 21, 2023

Rosette Nebula

One of the most attractive deep sky objects in Monoceros is NGC 2244, a bright open star cluster visible even to the naked eye under good conditions.
Nov 21, 2023

Ring Nebula M57

The best-known planetary nebula is the Ring Nebula M57, easily found about halfway between Beta and Gamma Lyrae.
Nov 21, 2023

The Pleiades

The Pleiades, also known as the “Seven Sisters”, is the most famous of all star clusters. The group is very conspicuous, and has been known and regarded with reverence since early times.
Nov 21, 2023

Deep Sky Intro

The category "deep sky" encompasses all astronomical objects beyond our solar system, most of which are invisible to the naked eye.
Nov 21, 2023

Eyepieces

An eyepiece (or ocular) is a combination of small lenses mounted in a tube, used to view and magnify the image formed by a telescope or other optical instrument.
Nov 21, 2023

Comet ISON

3C 273 is the first identified and optically brightest quasar, the super bright nucleus of an “active” galaxy.
Nov 21, 2023

Solar Eclipses

A solar eclipse is probably the most spectacular celestial event that people can experience.
Nov 21, 2023

Star Hopping Guide

Star hopping is used whenever one intends to find a celestial object spreading a dim light, invisible to the naked eye.
Nov 21, 2023

Constellation Aries

A rather inconspicuous northern constellation and a sign of the zodiac, which honors the ram whose golden fleece was sought by Jason and the Argonauts.
Nov 21, 2023

Constellation Ara

A small and rather inconspicuous southern constellation representing the altar on which Centaurus the centaur sacrificed Lupus the wolf.
Nov 21, 2023

Constellation Aquila

Aquila is located in the equatorial region of the sky representing an eagle. It is best visible in the month of August, high in the evening sky.
Nov 21, 2023

Constellation Aquarius

Aquarius is a constellation of the zodiac, through which the Sun passes from mid-February to mid-March.
Nov 21, 2023

Constellation Apus

An inconspicuous constellation in the south polar region of the sky, created by German astronomer Johan Bayer in the 17th century.
Nov 21, 2023

Constellation Antlia

Antlia is visible at latitudes between +45° and -90°, and best visible during the month of April.
Nov 21, 2023
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