Look to the stars

“Seagull Nebula (August 10, 2023),” Phil Rosenberg (American, b. 1946), Astrophotography of 90 images [College of Central Florida].

One astrophotographer and philanthropist is leaving his mark on the College of Central Florida, with the art installation of a composite of 90 of his photos of the cosmos.

Phil Rosenberg is a lifelong astronomer and astrophotographer, who now photographs the cosmos from an observatory in his own backyard in Weirsdale. Now retired, he dedicated his career to governmental human resources and intelligence. He currently serves on the board of the College of Central Florida Foundation, the Appleton Museum of Art, and the PACE Center for Girls, and he is an honorary board member for Broward College.

An installation featuring Rosenberg’s photography has now been unveiled at the College of Central Florida Appleton Museum of Art. The installation, titled “Art on the Up and Up,” is located beneath the east and west staircases of the museum lobby. The work features a composite of 90 photographs of Seagull Nebula.

Rosenberg’s interest in astronomy started at a young age, when he and his family lived in a “ratty, six–story apartment building in a tenement in Brooklyn,” he said.

“Mom had polio as an infant, so I grew up in a house full of love but challenges,” Rosenberg said. “I got to be a caregiver and also sit at the feet, or the braces, of a very strong and powerful woman with an interest in not letting a minor detail like paralysis get in her way.”

He had a natural curiosity, which he directed toward the night sky, he said.

“I really wasn’t allowed to go out and play, especially in the evening, but my parents did allow me to go up on the roof,” Rosenberg said. “And what do you do on a roof, besides keep from falling off? You look up.”

Rosenberg said studying the stars can offer a much-needed change of perspective for humans and create a sense of humility.

“Astronomy is the best hobby in the universe. To convey a sense of humility to human beings, we live in a world where we suffer from a malignancy of what the Greeks called hubris, which is excessive pride and arrogance,” he said. “Astronomy is a way to say, ‘Wow, we are not the center of much in the great universe.’”

Rosenberg is also an accomplished author of three books, two of which are children’s books.

The children’s books, which tell the tale of a child’s investigative wonder into space, are titled “Evie and the Magic Telescope” and “Evie, the Star Princess.” Evie, named after Rosenberg’s granddaughter, is a young girl whose grandfather teaches her how to use a telescope to explore the night sky.

Rosenberg often invites the public to join him at his observatory, which features a wide array of instruments that he collected himself.

Phil Rosenberg at his observatory, located in Marion County, Fla. [College of Central Florida]

He and his wife are passionate about philanthropy for the Marion County community and have made donations so that young children may be able to foster the same passion for astronomy that they have.

“We created a project to give telescopes to schools. We’ve given 34 computerized, robotic telescopes to elementary and middle schools, including schools in Marion,” Rosenberg said.

Named the “100 Telescopes Project,” Rosenberg and his wife took interest from their granddaughter Evie’s doctorate dissertation to create a charitable organization. Evie created the idea of the “10,000 Telescope Project,” a way to donate telescopes to schools.

“I have yet to meet a kid who doesn’t look through a telescope at something like Saturn or the moon, who does not say, ‘Wow,’” he said. “You get power by dreaming and by imagining what could be, instead of what your current situation might be.”