Milky Way shot - DPChallenge Forums

07/16/2007 10:58:13 AM · #1

From my weekend in northern Wisconsin. This is the only astro-shot I've processed so far. We were nearly clouded out, and were reduced to shooting the final night at 3 in the morning through an opening in the trees, nearly straight up. It was wonderfully clear, but it's disorienting to look at a shot like this and see trees on three sides of the image. Imagine yourself looking staight up through the trees and you'll get the idea exactly.

This is an unbelievably dark location!

Telehubbie

Canon EOS-40D

07/16/2007 11:06:13 AM · #2

Beautiful John! Glad the weather worked out for you, at least for one night.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

07/16/2007 11:12:58 AM · #3

Wow! I hope there will be more!

Dr.Confuser

Nikon D800

07/16/2007 12:10:11 PM · #4

Very nice indeed. How long was the exposure? Was wondering because you have nice pinpoint focus on the stars due to tracking, but the effect of tracking on the trees isn't very noticeable.

07/16/2007 12:14:41 PM · #5

DocCon, details are on the shot. It was a 4 minute exposure. The trees are blurred, but maybe it's not as noticeable due to the fact that no ambient light was hitting them at all?? I did shoot one where I did a normal tracking shot, and then turned off the drive for a second shot to capture sharp trees, but the sequence was spoiled by the first hints of dawn and the sky had brightened too much to blend the shots together. Grrr.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

07/16/2007 12:33:22 PM · #6

I'd never heard of a tracking telescope before this (obviously I've never looked into astro photography.) Can you post a link to such a tracking telescope? How does the camera mount to it?

jmritz

Fujifilm X30

Custom Made Pinhole

07/16/2007 12:47:19 PM · #7

Great shot John. To bad about all the clouds. Wondering if you got to see Comet Linear VZ13. Been trying to get a glimpse of it in my small refractor but the skies here are terrible with fog and clouds.
Love seeing all those stars!

kenskid

Nikon D700

07/16/2007 01:09:37 PM · #8

WE are DUST !

07/16/2007 01:45:22 PM · #9

jmritz:
I did not attempt to observe the comet from our northwoods location - time was just too short. I did try to photograph it a few nights before from here in Madison. I set up my 30D w/400mm lens in the driveway on a static tripod and aimed where my chart said it should be (in draco). I shot 30 second unguided and got this:

Clearly captured the comet though the quality sucks BIG time.

smurfguy:
The setup looks like this:

Though this is my friend's Roloflex camera, not my digital. The camera sits on top of the scope and uses the scope as a tracking platform. The telescope, when properly aligned, moves in such a way as to cancel the earth's rotation, making it easier to enjoy views of celestial objects, or, in my case, to take long exposure shots of the sky. Pretty much any medium to high end telescope will have a tracking mount. You can also buy a tracking mount without the telescope and just attach a camera. This solution is much more portable than lugging around a whole scope if wide-field astrophotography is the goal.

Here's a shot of our setup Saturday night before the clouds moved in. You can see the piggyback mount and ballhead sitting on top of the telescope, waiting for the camera to be attached:

07/16/2007 02:21:39 PM · #10

Sweet setup - thanks!

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) for Nikon

07/16/2007 02:45:45 PM · #11

Number 2:

bod

07/16/2007 03:18:07 PM · #12

Sweet as!
What's the big yellowish looks-like-it-could-be-a-spiral-galaxy near the top center?

levyj413

Nikon D7100

07/16/2007 03:40:17 PM · #13

Thanks for sharing!

Do you get better results piggybacking than shooting through the telescope?

07/16/2007 03:40:35 PM · #14

Originally posted by bod:

Sweet as!
What's the big yellowish looks-like-it-could-be-a-spiral-galaxy near the top center?

It's a big yellowish IS a spiral galaxy, M31 - the Andromeda Galaxy!

SteveJ

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

07/16/2007 03:42:59 PM · #15

Very impressive! Good detail and colour and sharp. As usual you come up with the goods, well done!

SteveJ

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

07/16/2007 03:44:31 PM · #16

Originally posted by levyj413:

Thanks for sharing!

Do you get better results piggybacking than shooting through the telescope?

Pre-empting a reply from John, I think you can get a wider angle by piggybacking than straight through the scope? I am sure I will be corrected if wrong.

07/16/2007 03:49:10 PM · #17

Steve is right on. It's all about what you want to photograph. If you want to take a picture of a particular object like a planet or a nebula, you'll do well to use your telescope as a zoom lens. Shoot through it for max magnification and light gathering. If you want to shoot the whole sky, your highest quality wide angle lens lens is your best bet. In that case, put the camera and lens on top of the telescope and shoot piggyback.

Message edited by author 2007-07-16 15:49:45.

07/16/2007 03:49:40 PM · #18

Originally posted by strangeghost:

It's a big yellowish IS a spiral galaxy, M31 - the Andromeda Galaxy!

I was going to ask if you had a telephoto shot of Andromeda - but a quick browse through your portfolio has answered my question! Cool!