A mosaic of the main area of the southern Milky Way containing the best of the splendours of the southern hemisphere sky, from Puppis and Vela at top right to Centaurus at bottom left, and including Canopus and the Large Magellanic Cloud at lower right. Crux, the Southern Cross, and the Carina Nebula are at left of centre. The False Cross is at centre. Alpha and Beta Centauri are at lower left. Omega Centauri is at the left edge of the frame. The huge faint and red Gum Nebula in Vela is at upper right, as is the smaller Vela Supernova Remnant. The dark Coal Sack is left of the Southern Cross. The Dark Doodad is below the Cross. This a 4-panel mosaic, each panel being a stack of 4 x 2.5-minute exposures at f/2.2 with the 35mm lens and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1600, with an additional exposure taken through the Kenko Softon A filter for each panel also blended in to add the accentuated star glows. All taken on the iOption Sky Tracker from the Warrumbungles Motel grounds at the 2016 OzSky Star Party. Stacked and stitched in Photoshop CC 2015. The original is 8500 x 5400 pixels.
The southern Milky Way with the Dark Emu rising over the OzSky Star Party on April 5, 2016. This is the section of the sky and Milky Way that cannot be seen from northern latitudes. The Milky Way extends from Puppis and Vela at top to Centaurus at bottom, with Crux and Carina at left of centre with the Southern Cross and the Carina Nebula at centre. The Small and Large Magellanic Clouds are at lower right. The South Celestial Pole is at lower centre. Canopus is the bright star upper right. The telescopes are from the Three Rivers Foundation Australia for use by visiting amateur astronomers at the annual OzSky Star Party, held on the grounds of the Warrumbungles Motel near Coonabarabran, NSW. This is a stack of 4 x 5 minute exposures with the Rokinon 14mm lens at f/2.8 and Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1600, all tracked on the iOptron Sky Tracker, plus one 5-minute exposure untracked of the ground to prevent it from blurring. The trees are blurred at the boundary of the two images, tracked and untracked.
Circumpolar star trails over the OzSky star party near Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia, on April 3, 2016. This is a small annual star party attended by about 35 observers from around the world on a limited registration basis and put on by the Three Rivers Foundation in Australia. The view is looking due south here to the South Celestial Pole, with the southern Milky Way arching overhead, with Crux, the Southern Cross at top. The LMC is at bottom right. The field is filled with telescopes for observers to use to explore the wonders of the southern hemisphere sky. The stars are turning around the blank area that is the South Celestial Pole in Octans. This site is at a latitude of 32° South. This is a stack of 49 frames, each 45 seconds at f/2.8 with the 15mm fish-eye lens on the Canon 6D at ISO 4000. The ground comes from three frames in the sequence. Stacked with Advanced Stacker Plus actions using Streaks mode.
