The Milky Way in the region of the Galactic Centre in Sagittarius, photographed with it high in the sky from Australia. The actual centre of the Galaxy lies near centre of the frame. The dark clouds that form the Dark Horse and the Pipe Nebula are at right. The clusters Messier 6 and Messier 7 are at bottom, with M7 lost in the star clouds of the Milky Way. The Lagoon and Trifid Nebulas, M8 and M20, are at top. Saturn is the bright star at top right. The Dark Horse region of dark dust is at right, with the darkest part below being the Pipe Nebula, B78. The small Snake Nebula, B72, is at right. This is a stack of 4 x 2-minute exposures at f/2.8 with the Rokinon 85mm lens, and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 2500. Taken from Tibuc Gardens Cottage near Coonabarabran, Australia. The image could be turned 90° CCW to better resemble its orientation in the sky in which it was photographed in the southern hemisphere, This orientation matches the view in the northern hemisphere. Some haze in one of the frames added the natural star glows.
A "deepscape" of the rich galactic core region of the Milky Way, here shining over Sofa Mountain in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta on an early June night. This version has labels identifying the main deep sky objects in the field, including all the many Messier objects in the area. The lower part of the Galactic Dark Horse, called the Pipe Nebula, B78, is at right. The Large Sagittarius Starcloud is at lower centre over the mountain ridge, and very yellow because of interstellar dust absorption; the whiter Small Sagittarius Starcloud (aka M24) is at top, flanked by the large star clusters M23 at right and M25 at left. The pink Lagoon Nebula, aka M8, is at centre, with the bluish Trifid Nebula, M20, above. The globular star cluster M22 is at lower left. I shot this on a very clear night, June 1, 2021, from the Maskinonge Pond area. This is a blend of a tracked and untracked exposures: a stack of 4 x 1-minute tracked exposures at ISO 3200 with the MSM Move Shoot Move tracker, with a single 8-minute untracked exposure with the MSM motor off and at ISO 400, all with the 85mm Samyang AF lens at f/2.8 and Canon EOS Ra. The untracked shot was taken immediately after the tracked shots from the same position, though the camera was re-leveled to frame the mountain. The sky really was at this altitude just above the mountain, as this was from latitude 49° N. Blended, masked and stacked with Photoshop.
A "deepscape" of the rich galactic core region of the Milky Way, here shining over Sofa Mountain in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta on an early June night. The lower part of the Galactic Dark Horse, called the Pipe Nebula, B78, is at right. The Large Sagittarius Starcloud is at lower centre over the mountain ridge, and very yellow because of interstellar dust absorption; the whiter Small Sagittarius Starcloud (aka M24) is at top, flanked by the large star clusters M23 at right and M25 at left. The pink Lagoon Nebula, aka M8, is at centre, with the bluish Trifid Nebula, M20, above. The globular star cluster M22 is at lower left. I shot this on a very clear night, June 1, 2021, from the Maskinonge Pond area. This is a blend of a tracked and untracked exposures: a stack of 4 x 1-minute tracked exposures at ISO 3200 with the MSM Move Shoot Move tracker, with a single 8-minute untracked exposure with the MSM motor off and at ISO 400, all with the 85mm Samyang AF lens at f/2.8 and Canon EOS Ra. The untracked shot was taken immediately after the tracked shots from the same position, though the camera was re-leveled to frame the mountain. The sky really was at this altitude just above the mountain, as this was from latitude 49° N. Blended, masked and stacked with Photoshop.