I thought my backyard had too much light pollution for astrophotography. This telescope proved me wrong

I live under heavily light-polluted suburban skies in Nottingham, U.K., where the glow of streetlights often drowns out all but the brightest of stars. My backyard — boxed in by rows of terraced houses — offers only a small window of visible sky, and on most nights I'm lucky if I can spot the Pleiades with the naked eye. Astrophotography always felt out of reach. So when I set up the Vaonis Vespera Pro telescope for the first time, I wasn't expecting much. …