When you see a photo like this, you stop and look. And you wonder: What’s that guy’s story? Who is this kilt-wearing fellow with the big stone ball on his shoulder? And what does this have to do with astronomy?
Let me introduce you to Mike Sidonio, former competitor for the title of World’s Strongest Man and award-winning astrophotographer. (In case you’re wondering, the ball is sandstone and weighs 337 pounds [153 kilograms]).
I’ve been working on a new department for Astronomy that will pull together many interesting and notable bits of news and information related to astronomy and space science. One of my colleagues here, Valerie Penton, brought Sidonio’s striking Atlas-like pose to my attention.
Sidonio shared his story as we e-mailed back and forth. First off, he’s Australian. He lives just outside of Canberra. In his own words:
“I first got interested in astronomy as young boy and bought my first scope, a Tasco 4.5” Newtonian, when I got my first job at 15. I was very 
active in astronomy and particularly astrophotography in the 80s, building cold cameras and other interesting astrophotographic equipment. During the 90s I discovered serious weight training and undertook a quest to become the World’s Strongest Man. I got close but being completely drug free prevented me from going all the way.”
Without using steroids, Sidonio says he attained his best condition in 2001. The 6’1” athlete weighed 300 pounds, with 20-inch arms, 33-inch thighs, and a 56-inch chest. He set a world record for the “farmer’s carry,” toting two weighted steel compressed gas cylinders suitcase-style, one in each hand. In this event, he carried 353 pounds (160 kg) in each hand 167 feet (51 meters).
A quick tour of Mike’s numerous galleries on PBase, an image sharing site, left me pretty impressed. I especially like the ones where he compares some amazing Hubble Space Telescope shot to one of his, side by side. You can sample 60 galleries and 641 images on PBase.
Above: Sidonio's world-record smashing "farmer's walk"
Above: Sidonio set up for a night of imaging.
Above: Sidonio's favorite shot — Centaurus A (NGC 5128)