Andrew McCarthy's Avatar

Andrew McCarthy

@ajamesmccarthy.bsky.social

Get my latest artwork: https://cosmicbackground.io/pages/above-the-rift

2,699 Followers  |  1 Following  |  38 Posts  |  Joined: 13.11.2024  |  2.0086

Latest posts by ajamesmccarthy.bsky.social on Bluesky

Yes! You might have an import tax though :(

02.10.2025 17:13 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

I wrestled with the idea of doing this because it felt like exploiting Gregory- so each photo was only captured while he was just doing his normal routine. I will also be making a donation to the shelter I got him from with calendar proceeds (will post the actual amount EOY)

30.09.2025 21:41 β€” πŸ‘ 41    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

He went from being miserable in a shelter to bringing millions of people closer to the stars. It's hard to imagine a more perfect glow-up!

He's also now starring in his own cosmic calendar, which you can see here! cosmicbackground.io/products/202...

30.09.2025 21:41 β€” πŸ‘ 51    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 2
Post image

One year ago today I found Gregory in the back of a cage at a shelter. He was the oldest cat and had been there the longest... and his sad eyes broke my heart.

Today he's a sassy, talkative friend who sits with me while I take photos of space. Happy adoption day Greggers!

30.09.2025 21:41 β€” πŸ‘ 116    πŸ” 19    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 2

Shadow is static because I masked in a single frame from the stack so the shadow wasn’t blurred

09.09.2025 00:30 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

That would be true if these were trails from earth’s motion, which they aren’t. These are trails from lunar motion! Roughly 1.5 hours of exposures were used for the trails here

08.09.2025 00:55 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

I used two telescopes taking thousands of photos while tracking the moon to capture star trails that visualize the motion during a lunar eclipse.

07.09.2025 21:25 β€” πŸ‘ 109    πŸ” 25    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 1
Post image

I’m starting to suspect his stuffed carrot may actually be filled with drugs

03.08.2025 16:16 β€” πŸ‘ 58    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 1
Post image

I spent months shooting a specific part of the Milky Way to reveal all the hidden nebulae. I call it β€œAbove the Rift”, a 337 megapixel, 140 hour exposure. My deepest look at the Milky Way yet.

Available in print until tomorrow night at the link in my bio.

27.07.2025 19:17 β€” πŸ‘ 593    πŸ” 72    πŸ’¬ 19    πŸ“Œ 4

Thank you for sharing my work!

21.06.2025 16:30 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

This is incorrect. It was captured in hydrogen-alpha light, which is perfectly visible. 6562.8 angstroms.

Source: am the photographer.

21.06.2025 16:29 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

I call this piece "Kardashev Dreams" as it represents the humble beginnings as our civilization grows

I released it in two versions: This one, and one that's an uncropped panorama you can see on my website here: cosmicbackground.io/pages/kardas...

Prints available for a short time!

20.06.2025 23:53 β€” πŸ‘ 72    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

On Sunday I traveled to the middle of the desert to capture this: The ISS against our sun. What I didn't expect: the sun producing a magnificent flare at the same time

A once-in-a-lifetime shot I'm thrilled to share with you. See the uncropped shot or get the print in the reply

20.06.2025 23:51 β€” πŸ‘ 690    πŸ” 227    πŸ’¬ 17    πŸ“Œ 17
Post image

Right now the night sky is pointed away from the galactic plane, which means you're seeing deep into intergalactic space when you look up.

This is what the intergalactic space looks like through my 12" scope, captured from my backyard last night.

So many galaxies!

23.03.2025 21:09 β€” πŸ‘ 92    πŸ” 10    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 3
Post image

Venus is currently at inferior conjunction, which mean's it's the closest it'll get to the sun when seen from Earth.

This photo I captured this afternoon shows the slim phase of the planet as it slips between us and our star.

22.03.2025 22:20 β€” πŸ‘ 88    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 2
Post image

Last night I used 4 cameras to capture the ultimate HDR view of the lunar eclipse

This 300GB/440 megapixel image shows the lunar surface in extreme detail, while revealing all rich color that was projected onto the surface

Get a print for a short time, linked in my bio.

14.03.2025 23:42 β€” πŸ‘ 435    πŸ” 110    πŸ’¬ 15    πŸ“Œ 11

Thank you!

08.03.2025 03:35 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Happy Valentine’s Day!
-Greggers

14.02.2025 20:09 β€” πŸ‘ 87    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image 11.02.2025 16:47 β€” πŸ‘ 106    πŸ” 13    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 2
Post image

Living his best life

29.01.2025 15:03 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

No I’ve just been busy :(

21.01.2025 22:22 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Here’s some of my favorite photos I captured in 2024. Several bucket-list shots were captured!

Theres so much more I’m planning for 2025. I hope you’ll follow along! ☺️

01.01.2025 23:32 β€” πŸ‘ 90    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 1
Post image

β€œMeowy Christmas” -Gregory

26.12.2024 02:44 β€” πŸ‘ 81    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 2
Post image

Got him!

It’s tricky to capture since he moves so fast, but with good equipment and a bit of perseverance, magic can happen!

Merry Christmas!

25.12.2024 04:45 β€” πŸ‘ 1382    πŸ” 143    πŸ’¬ 26    πŸ“Œ 8
Post image

He went from the saddest cat in the shelter to claiming all my stuff as his in just 3 short months.

This was the exact glow-up I hoped for!

24.12.2024 23:17 β€” πŸ‘ 108    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0

I spent 10 years curating that community and my career depends on it, I’m not giving up on it!

28.11.2024 21:22 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you. It was hard :(

Bailey is doing well, but she’s an old girl now so I have to pay close attention to her!

20.11.2024 02:14 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Calvin passed last year :(

Thanks for the heads up. I’ll consider being less explicit but it’ll be a difficult adjustment.

20.11.2024 01:19 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Gregory pic since that’s the real reason everyone follows me

20.11.2024 01:02 β€” πŸ‘ 157    πŸ” 11    πŸ’¬ 19    πŸ“Œ 2

Twitter takes some work, but it is quite pleasant for me. I stay out of politics and don’t engage with content that upsets me. My algorithm shows me mainly space and cats.

It’ll take work to do the same thing here. My entire feed is nothing but angry politics on this app.

19.11.2024 19:11 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

@ajamesmccarthy is following 1 prominent accounts