Hi Tom,
Astrophotography is something I have participated in for well over 4 decades. I have a lab at my house (which is seldom used these days) and use to process after a night out taking photos. Perhaps I need to post some photos here somewhere. Developing photos right after taking them helps you figure out what you are doing wrong. With the digital cameras these days, with a little effort, you can take some outstanding shots of sky objects. Trick is to start with brighter objects and work your way down to fainter objects. There is also the art of guiding your telescope to follow the object so it doesn't drift in your picture. A complicated process for sure but rewarding when you get a nice shot.
It is one reason astronomers don't want bright street lights around where they are doing astronomy. Things we look at are hundreds of thousands times fainter than a dim setting at night. I like the idea of an invite for people to see things. Craters on the Moon, Saturn's Ring, Jupiter's Moons, double stars, galaxies, nebula and a great many other objects are out there just waiting to be discovered! I'd like to be the astronomer in the group if it's not too far off the norm for people. I am sure we would have fun and always nice to learn a bit about something that is a mystery for most people.