The mission of Stark Labs is quite simple - to bringing
powerful, easy to use, and purpose-built tools to amateur
astrophotographers. Amateur astronomers are living in
incredible times, as affordable computer and imaging
technologies have revolutionized our hobby. The advent of
computer controlled of telescopes and affordable CCD
imaging equipment have made it so that amateurs today can
take astrophotographs that rival images taken by
observatories only a few decades ago. The programs produced
by Stark Labs aim to bring advanced imaging techniques
within the reach of amateurs, in easy to use and either
free or very affordable packages.
Stark Labs is not a large company. You will find me,
Craig Stark, routinely on various
Internet groups discussing astrophotography. By night,
I am an amateur astronomer who stands in far off, dark
fields that always seem to be either cold or plagued
by mosquitos, attempting to capture photons of light
from far off galaxies and nebulae. As such, I know the
value of things like a simple interface that can be
easily operated with only a few moments with hands
exposed to the cold (or biting!).
While I pass the Space Telescope Science Institute each
morning on the way to my office, astronomy is not my day
job. A cognitive neuroscientist by training, I spend my
days doing research into how memory works in the brain. I
love my research and am awed by the complexity of the
brain. But I am just as awed by the notion that I can
capture photons from galaxies – photons emitted
millions of years ago and that I can turn these into
beautiful pictures.
I created Stark Labs to help make that possible – to
take tools I was developing for my own use and to make them
available in easy to use packages that are either free or
at an affordable price.
Craig Stark
Stark Labs