AN ASTRONOMER from Weymouth has scooped picture of the month in the BBC magazine Sky at Night.

Rob Hodgkinson gained the accolade in the world's first astronomy magazine with his shot of the galaxy NGC 4565, also known as the Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile.

He said: "When I heard that my image had been chosen I was thrilled to bits.

"I kept thinking of how proud my dad, who stimulated my interest in the early 1960s, would have been.

"He used to take me out and show me the constellations and helped me to build a very simple telescope when I was nine or 10 that gave me my first view of the rings of Saturn, one of the most amazing sights in the sky and one that never fails to get gasps of amazement from people the first time they see it."

Rob lived in cities with light pollution and only noticed how much clearer the sky was when he and wife, Amanda, moved to Weymouth in 2002.

In 2006 he bought his first dedicated camera for photographing the stars.

Rob said: "The fact that the ability to take amazing pictures of the night sky is now readily available for amounts of money that aren't astronomical means that this is becoming a rapidly growing hobby for many people.

"Over the last couple of years I've learned more about how to capture images from the sky, by long hours of trial and error, and from talking to other like-minded people on internet forums, and I now try to give others the benefit of my experience.

"NGC 4565 is about 30 million light years away from us.

"This means that the light that hit my camera, travelling at the fantastic speed of 186,000 miles every second, took 30 million years to get here and started its journey when the first grasses and trees with fruit were spreading around the Earth.

"One thing about astronomy - it really gives you a sense of perspective."

Rob's skills are well known at Weymouth Astronomy Club where he is a member, and colleagues say he is widely recognised as a very keen astro-imager of deep sky objects.

Chairman Sheri Barrington said: "He is very helpful and generous to all people that he meets inquiring about how to improve their own imaging endeavours.

"Rob is extremely enthusiastic and is very highly regarded by other members of the club for the help he gives them. He thoroughly deserves to win the picture of the month award."

NGC 4565 is a spiral galaxy viewed edge-on from Earth.

Anyone interested in finding out more about astronomy can log on to www.weymouthastronomy.co.uk