Sun shines for starstruck Andy...

But now the 55-year-old has seen his talent reach an audience of millions around the world, after his close-up photographs of the sun – all taken using equipment set up in his garden – were featured on the front page of American space agency Nasa’s website.

His spectacular pictures are now being viewed by space fans around the globe, who regularly log on to the world-famous website to see the latest developments in the world of astronomy.

Mr Devey, who attended Doncaster College of Technology and worked first as a mining surveyor and then as a colliery manager, uses a host of telescopes and cameras to capture images of the sun from his back garden in Darton.

Other sun shots he’s taken from his home set-up, without the aid of an observatory, have also made the front cover of this year’s British Astronomical yearbook.

His success has also been something of a meteoric rise, after he bought his first telescope just over six years ago and rapidly became more and more enthusiastic about his new hobby.

“It started off as a hobby but I suppose it’s become an obsession,” said Mr Devey, who is married with three adult children.

”My target is specifically the sun. I don’t stand in the garden on freezing nights, so I get the benefit of a nice day to pursue my passion.

“At the moment I have no observatory, so I have to take everything outside when the weather permits.”

Mr Devey’s interest in the skies was first sparked by his father, mining surveyor Ron Devey, who used to point out the constellations in the night sky to his young son.

But it wasn’t until Mr Devey visited his late cousin Tina Devey in 2002, while she was working as an astrophysicist at Keele University, that he felt moved to take his passion further.

Mr Devey said: “This visit included a trip, hosted by Prof Tim Nailor, around the campus observatory.

“I was introduced to a hydrogen-alpha view of the sun and after that I was well and truly hooked.

“Sadly, Tina died in June 2004. I often think of her and she remains my inspiration into more serious astronomical pursuits.”

In 2004, Mr Devey began buying telescopes in order to see the night sky in more detail.

He also began making daily records of the sun’s activity, clouds permitting, which he continues to this day.

He said: “The following year, in 2005, I became a member of the Mexborough and Swinton Astronomical Society, and also the British Astronomical Association.

“My equipment inventory just keeps accumulating. It is only just over six years since I bought my first telescope and so I am a relative newcomer to this hobby.

“In this short period I have enjoyed making some fairly significant progress, mainly through guidance and assistance from others.”

His next aims, Mr Devey said, are to produce even better qualities of the sun.

“The sun is the biggest target in our solar system and my goal is to photograph and video the sun to show just how dynamic it is”, he said.

“I have been lucky because I got on the front cover of the British Astronomical Association yearbook this year with a very large explosion on the edge of the sun.

“Since then I have been a pretty regular feature on the Nasa website but then, last week, got on the front cover of the website for the first time.

“I’m really proud with the achievements – and all this has come from the back garden of a house in Barnsley.”

Other images to feature on the NASA website are taken using far more technical equipment than Mr Devey’s home telescope.

Photographs on the site at present include an image of the moon taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera and a picture of a rock on Mars, which was taken by a Mars Exploration Rover.

Other images are captured from far more advantageous positions than a Darton garden. Astronaut Ron Garan, for example, used a high definition camera to film one of the 16 sunrises astronauts see each day from the International Space Station.