An Electronics Engineering PhD with a Passion for DIY Astrophotography

With a PhD in electronics engineering and a career in wireless communications research, Fernando Peña Campos didn’t expect his technical expertise would one day align so perfectly with the cosmos. But when he discovered astrophotography, everything clicked. His deep knowledge of electronics and signal processing became the foundation for a new passion—capturing the beauty of the universe.

Living under Bortle 8/9 skies, Fernando often drives several hours in search of darker skies to chase his favorite targets: colored wideband nebulae. A true DIY enthusiast, he has modified DSLRs with sensor cooling and IR filter conversions, customized his mounts, and even engineered his own astrophotography accessories. For Fernando, building the tools is as rewarding as using them.

It All Began 11 Years Ago with One Look Through a Telescope

It all started eleven years ago, when Fernando Peña Campos attended La Noche de las Estrellas, a public astronomy event in Mexico. At the time, he had no experience in astronomy—“my experience in the field was null,” he recalls. That night, something extraordinary happened. He looked through various telescopes for the first time and then noticed someone capturing the Orion Nebula using a DSLR and an SCT telescope.

Seeing that live view image on the screen “blew my mind,” Fernando says. The very next day, he found himself diving headfirst into researching telescopes and astrophotography online. One year later, he was already capturing his first images of the Moon.

Moon – May 2014, Sony a57 Celestron 150XLT

Inspired by masters like Rogelio Bernal and Jose Mtanous, Fernando set a goal: to refine his technique and strive for the same level of quality. That night under the stars didn’t just spark curiosity—it ignited a lifelong passion.

First Astrophotography Night: I Did What Every Beginner Does

Fernando Peña Campos still vividly remembers his first true astrophotography experience under a Bortle 4 sky. He had joined two more experienced astrophotographers on a night out, but arrived late and had to set up in the dark—with almost no hands-on experience. “I had a 150mm Newtonian on a CG4 mount, and no guiding,” he recalls. “It was chaotic.” But with the help of his friends, he did exactly what so many newcomers to the hobby do: point the scope at everything possible. That night he tried capturing the Horsehead Nebula, the Orion Nebula, and the Pleiades.

Then came the moment that sealed his passion. After snapping a 30-second exposure of the Pleiades and seeing it appear on the screen, something clicked. “Being there in the dark under the stars, and looking at that first 30 sec exposure of the Pleiades was unforgettable,” he says. “I just thought: It’s real. It’s possible. This is what I want to practise my whole life.”

The pleiades – Jan 2016, Sony a57 Celestron 150XLT

From Dark Nebulae to Solar Imaging: Fernando’s Evolving Astrophotography Journey

Fernando currently uses three main astrophotography setups, each tailored to a specific type of shooting condition. When traveling to dark-sky locations for several days, he brings out his RASA 11 paired with the ASI2600MC Duo and a Celestron CGE-PRO mount, which he has DIY-modified with an OnStep controller.

He also maintains a monochrome imaging configuration, consisting of a Takahashi Epsilon 160, an ASI2600MM Pro camera with a 5-position filter wheel, and an AP900 mount, which he also converted to OnStep. With the recent addition of a DIY roll-off roof, this setup has become a permanent fixture at his home observatory and is used for both LRGB and SHO narrowband imaging.

For lightweight travel and portability—especially for trips involving air travel—Fernando relies on his RedCat 51, paired with the ASI2600MC Duo and ZWO AM5N mount. “Surprisingly, this configuration has given me some of the best astrophotos I’ve taken,” he notes.

His favorite celestial targets are dark nebulae, particularly in the Taurus and Cepheus regions. “Those pictures full of dust and subtle emission clouds are just wonderful,” he says. “They’re also challenging to gather and process, and every time I work on them, I learn something new.”

NGC1333 and dark nebula regions in Taurus Epsilon 160 + ASI2600MC Duo SW EQ6-R 255x180s Wirikuta Desert, SLP, México, Nov 2023

Looking ahead, Fernando has recently ventured into solar photography. With everything being “new and different again,” he’s excited by the opportunity to learn fresh techniques and expand his skills into this dynamic area of astrophotography.

Chasing Dark Skies and Sharing the Passion

Fernando usually heads to Mixtlan and Ahuacatepec in Jalisco, Mexico—two locations about three hours from Guadalajara, the state capital. These spots not only offer excellent dark skies but also host an annual event called the “Astrophotography Weekend.” This year, significant progress was made toward protecting the night sky in that region by recognizing it as cultural patrimony of the state.

Colors of M8 in SHO Epsilon 160 + Player One OAG + Player One Ceres-M CGE-PRO DIY Onstep ZWO ASI2600mm-PRO Antlia HA, OIII, SII, 3nm HighSpeed pro HA 103x300s OIII 82x600s SII 66x600s Backyard Observatory, Zapopan Jalisco, México, Mar-May 2025

When asked about shooting from home versus traveling, Fernando admits that although he has a roll-off roof setup at home, he strongly prefers traveling to darker, more remote locations to capture high-quality RGB data. “Wideband targets like galaxies and dark nebulae are my favorites,” he says. For him, traveling offers a full experience beyond photography—spending nights chatting with fellow astrophotographers, doing night landscape photography, and simply being immersed in the beauty of the night sky.

What Fernando Peña Campos enjoys most about astrophotography isn’t just the imaging—it’s the entire experience that comes with it. In the past two years, that enjoyment has turned into an incredible journey across Mexico, attending a variety of astrophotography events in breathtaking locations. One highlight was photographing under the pristine Bortle 1 skies of San Pedro Mártir National Park, home to Mexico’s National Observatory. Another was venturing into the mystical Wirikuta desert, an experience that combined natural beauty with cultural depth.

In August 2024, Fernando captured an “astro selfie” under Bortle 2 skies in Corralfalso, Baja California—another memory etched into his growing archive of deep-sky adventures.

Astro Selfie in Bortle II skies of Corralfalso Baja California, Mexico, Aug 2024

But his passion extends beyond capturing the cosmos. As an engineer, Fernando really like DIY astrophotography. “I’m an enthusiast of building and modifying my own gear,” he says. He’s created his own cooled-sensor DSLRs—“there should be a dozen of those in Mexico,” he adds—and has converted many old mounts to the open-source Onstep system. For him, astrophotography is a perfect fusion of creativity, technology, and exploration.

IR modified DSRL camera with TEC-cooled sensor

Astrophotography Teaches Patience

Like many astrophotographers, he knows setbacks all too well. “I always say that astrophotography teaches you patience,” he shares. Living in a region where the weather can be unpredictable, he’s no stranger to long-awaited trips that end up with clouded skies — or nights when a forgotten cable or tiny nut brings imaging plans to a halt. But rather than dwelling on frustration, he takes a different approach: “If I can’t fix it, I just focus on enjoying the place and the company and forget about the equipment.”

That resilient mindset has paid off. One of his proudest milestones so far came on October 10th, 2020, when his image of the Virgo Cluster was published as NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) — a powerful affirmation of the dedication behind the image.

To those just starting their own astrophotography journey, he offers advice grounded in experience: “Astrophotography is a diverse hobby with many branches. Find the closest group of astrophotographers and join them, go to astronomy camps and astroparties.” For him, the real learning began not with gear, but with community and collaboration. “Nowadays, a lot of astrophoto content on social media starts from there — learning how to process. Most of the time, image quality is limited by acquisition and development techniques, not the equipment.”

ZWO — Game Changer for Me

Fernando Peña Campos first heard about ZWO in 2017, when a friend purchased an ASI1600 cooled camera. “That was the moment I really started paying attention,” he recalls. His first ZWO products were the EAF electronic focuser and the ASI174MM planetary camera.

Today, Fernando’s setup includes the compact EAF—“I love that it doesn’t need an extra 12V power line”—along with several ZWO cameras: the ASI120MM for guiding, the ASI2600MM he recently added to his mono configuration, and his personal favorite, the ASI2600MC Duo. “These cameras are incredibly well-documented and user-friendly,” he notes. “The 2600 series beats my old CCD in performance and is much faster when it comes to downloads.”

Leo Triplet Rasa 11’’ CGE-PRO DIY Onstep ZWO ASI2600MC Duo 345x180s Ahuacatepec, Jalisco, México, March 2025

The ASI2600MC Duo has been a game changer in his astrophotography journey. It enabled off-axis guiding with his RASA 11—a telescope notoriously tricky in that area due to mirror flop and front obstruction, which prevents traditional OAG use. “With the Duo, I can easily shoot 20-minute exposures without any star elongation, even with dual-band filters,” Fernando shares.

https://www.zwoastro.com/product/asi2600mc-duo/

But the Duo’s impact goes beyond just one configuration. When combined with the AM5 mount, it became the perfect travel setup. “It made my flight-based astrophotography so much simpler. I didn’t have to compromise on quality just because I was on the move.”

For Fernando, ZWO gear isn’t just about convenience—it’s what makes ambitious imaging projects possible.