Mark Forrest lives in Broadstairs and is a keen amateur astronomer and astrophotographer. He is a member of the British Astronomical Association, contributing to the Mars Opposition Project of December 2022 and of Thanet Astronomy Group. He has also been part of the HOYS Project to study the formation of stars and planets through photometry using 0.4m telescopes across the Las Cumbres Observatory.

He uses a 200mm SCT Celestron EdgeHD for planetary and deep sky observing and a Williams Optics 71mm APO Triplet Refractor for lunar or solar observing in the hydrogen alpha wavelength.

Other astrophotography work use a Nikon D5300 mounted with a Sigma 600mm lens or Nikkor 12mm.