Bad Moon Rising

[Gaz]

I’m traveling out of the city at the moment so it’s a good time to try something new with my A7iv.

Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst NSW
It was dark when I arrived but a plane flew over…

• ILCE-7M4
• Sony FE 14mm F1.8
• 14.0 mm
• ƒ/1.8
• 30 sec
• ISO 800

And some guys started doing circuit work…

• ILCE-7M4
• Sony FE 14mm F1.8
• 14.0 mm
• ƒ/1.8
• 30 sec
• ISO 800

So I just went with it - as the venue is a race track after all…

• ILCE-7M4
• Sony FE 14mm F1.8
• 14.0 mm
• ƒ/1.8
• 30 sec
• ISO 800

Then the moon arrived on the scene to foil my plans to shoot stars.

• ILCE-7M4
• FE 14mm F1.8 GM
• 14.0 mm
• ƒ/1.8
• 30 sec
• ISO 400

• ILCE-7M4
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 571.0 mm
• ƒ/11
• 1/400 sec
• ISO 400

 

[Gaz]

• ILCE-7M4
• Sony FE 14mm F1.8
• 14.0 mm
• ƒ/1.8
• 30 sec
• ISO 1250

Obviously too close to Bathurst with all that ambient light at ground level. Still, I’ve enjoyed the experience.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Gary, those are great MilkyWay shots in a single exposure! I've seen some of the APSC guys do image stacking just to get something that good!

 

[MeowZzz]

Would be getting cold out there by now wouldn't it?


Good images but

 

[alexpler]

Beautiful shots, congratulations! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Nice Gaz....we're you using photopills or similar software to pin down the milky waY location/ orientation....?

 

[Gaz]

Gary, those are great MilkyWay shots in a single exposure! I've seen some of the APSC guys do image stacking just to get something that good!

I thought about image stacking last night but only know it’s a thing - don’t know how to go about it. I have a night further west tonight, so I’ll do my homework

 

[Gaz]

Nice Gaz....we're you using photopills or similar software to pin down the milky waY location/ orientation....?

No need. I can see it. Camera on tripod, aperture wide open, manual focus, and 30s exposure. Actually, the A7iv - I wanted to shoot bulb but didn’t research where the setting was beforehand… so went with the longest exposure it would give me, then adjusted the ISO trial and error.

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

No need. I can see it. Camera on tripod, aperture wide open, manual focus, and 30s exposure. Actually, the A7iv - I wanted to shoot bulb but didn’t research where the setting was beforehand… so went with the longest exposure it would give me, then adjusted the ISO trial and error.

it seems to have worked for you in any event with this high quality shot....

 

[Gaz]

it seems to have worked for you in any event with this high quality shot....

A bit of luck with the high altitude cold air and clear sky. When I zoom into the images I see lines where dots should be, so I appreciate the next level of commitment and star tracking. The Pentax K1 has it built in etc.

I also read a rule… the 500 rule, which tells me that, had I used 200-600 at 600, I’d have to increase the shutter speed to at least 500/600 to get the same minimized movement albeit on a much smaller portion of the sky and, noisy as heck.

The 14mm f1.8 did the heavy lifting.

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Yes the lines are called coma and in large part are created due to using a longer exposure time (read higher f number lens) and the relative rotation
Between your earth grounded tripod /camera and lens set up and the solar system moving around the earth.

Bottom line....shooting wide angle fast aperture lenses(sub f2.8) are best to avoid this unless you have a star tracker rig which moves with the rotation of the solar system.....

 

[Gaz]

Tonight I’m another 200+ km further inland close to the radio telescope and there are no doubt thousands more stars visible, and what looks like a nearby galaxy easily discernible. when the horizon isn’t as bright as it was last night.

I’ve taken a bunch of photos for photo stacking but I’ll need my computer to try it out.

Still, a beautiful cold, cloud free night.

• ILCE-7M4
• FE 14mm F1.8 GM
• 14.0 mm
• ƒ/1.8
• 30 sec
• ISO 800

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Tonight I’m another 200+ km further inland close to the radio telescope and there are no doubt thousands more stars visible, and what looks like a nearby galaxy easily discernible. when the horizon isn’t as bright as it was last night.

I’ve taken a bunch of photos for photo stacking but I’ll need my computer to try it out.

Still, a beautiful cold, cloud free night.

View attachment 38613

Nice...

 

[Alan Clark]

The galaxy is the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, 160,000 light-years away. Unfortunately it is not visible from the Northern hemisphere but I have seen it with the naked eye from South Africa.

 

[Gaz]

The galaxy is the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, 160,000 light-years away. Unfortunately it is not visible from the Northern hemisphere but I have seen it with the naked eye from South Africa.

It’s even more intriguing knowing what it is! I’m being teased into finding a star tracking kit.