The constellation of Orion the hunter, with its complex of nebulosity and colourful stars, enhanced here with the addition of diffraction spikes for artistic effect. This is a stack of 5 x 2-minute exposures taken from home on January 19, 2018, on a clear night, using the 50mm Sigma lens at f/2.5 and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1600. Tracked on the Star Adventrer Mini tracker. The key added element was the use of a NISI Natural Night light-pollution reduction filter in a test to see how well it brought out nebulosity and suppressed sky glow and gradients compared to a filterless shot. It did work and provided more nebulosity and reduced gradients toward the bottom of the frame. Star diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools actions.
A 240° panorama of a not very active display of Northern Lights to the north (left of centre), then sweeping around to the south (at right) and the winter stars of Orion and Canis Major. Sirius is bright and in some cloud, accentuating its size and colour. Leo is rising at centre. The Big Dipper and Ursa Major are left of centre. The Milky Way appears at far left, in the area of Perseus and Cepheus, and again at far right through Monoceros and past Orion and Canis Major. The aurora display the characteristic green and red curtains from oxygen, but there is also a dim red curtain at left (northwest) and at centre (east) south of the main curtain and separated. It looks like a dim Steve arc but this was not visible to the eye and never became well formed or bright. This is a stitch of 8 segments with the 14mm Sigma Art lens, at f/2 for 13 seconds each, and Nikon D750 at ISO 3200. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw. Taken from home January 13, 2018. The constellations are distorted slightly by the panorama projection and warping. I began a time-lapse after this, but clouds rolled in from the northwest.
The constellation of Orion the Hunter, at right, and his two Hunting Dogs and their brightest stars: Procyon in Canis Minor (at left) and Sirius in Canis Major (at bottom). The winter Milky Way runs from top to bottom through Monoceros and Canis Major. The red arc is Barnard’s Loop, an interstellar bubble blown by hot stellar winds from young stars in the Orion complex. The red patch at upper centre is the Rosette Nebula in Monoceros. The Orion Nebula is overexposed right of centre. This is a stack of 3 x 2-minute exposures with the 35mm lens at f/2.5 and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1600, on the Star Adventurer Mini tracker. A 4th exposure through the Kenko Softon A filter adds the star glows for accentuating colour and the visibility of the brightest stars. Shot from Quailway Cottage in southeast Arizona, December 15, 2017.
