Notes
About Caelum
Caelum is a small log of photos Ben takes of the night sky — mostly the Moon, the planets, and the occasional far-away galaxy or nebula. It was made for his nieces and nephews, but it's open to anyone who's curious. Each entry comes with a short, factual description of what's in the frame.
Equipment
The Dwarf 3
The photos here are taken with a Dwarf 3 — a small smart telescope about the size of a lunchbox. Rather than looking through an eyepiece, it stacks hundreds of short exposures so faint targets like distant galaxies gradually emerge above the noise. It runs from a phone app and fits in a backpack, which makes it a low-friction way to do real astronomy from a backyard.
Etymology
Why "Caelum"
Caelum is Latin for "the sky" or "the heavens." It's also the name of a real constellation — a faint one in the southern sky, named after a sculptor's chisel. Most people have never heard of it, which felt like a fitting name for a quiet corner of the internet.
Method
On the descriptions
Each photo's description is generated by an AI model (OpenAI GPT-5.5) using a few facts about the target — name, classification, capture date, and any notes from the session. The aim is to be informative and accurate (distance, scale, composition, notable features) rather than chatty.