CANNON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — The red tendrils of a nebula arcing out into the deep black of outer space, Mike Cortright can from his backyard observatory, beginning with the push of a button.
“Every night that’s clear is a blessing,” said Cortright, an astrophotographer and president of the Muskegon Astronomical Society. "Astrophotography is not for the faint of heart; you'll fail more than you succeed."
In 2022, a retired Cortright built the 12-by-12-foot observatory with a retractable roof, supplying it with two high-powered telescopes, able to not only capture the planet Jupiter, for example, but its moons as well.
“[I'm] realizing how small we are,” Cortright said, describing his lifelong passion for the planets and galaxies that orbit beyond earth’s atmosphere.
Prior to the observatory, Cortright traveled back and forth from Muskegon, spending late nights in solitude in dogged pursuit of a nice shot of the starry sky.
“[It] saves me so much time,” he said about his permanent setup, only steps away from his house.
While he’s captured Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and Saturn’s rings, Cortright hasn’t seen for himself a total solar eclipse. “Big fat zero," he said.
On Monday, he plans to travel down to an Indiana airport to witness the moon, sun and earth travel along the path of totality, weather permitting.
“It’s going to be phenomenal,” he said.
For the past year, Cortright — a solar system ambassador for NASA/JPL — has also led talks at local libraries and schools, teaching kids about the eclipse, the solar system and space travel.
“'Can I be in NASA?' Yes, you can,” said Cortright, referencing a popular question from children. “They’re just naturally curious about it.”
When the moon blocks the sun’s light during the total solar eclipse, life will seem small, he says.
“The time we spend here on this planet, it's pretty insignificant in those terms,” Cortright said. “It makes you very, very humble.”
