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.
A mosaic panorama of the rich Galactic Centre region of the Milky Way in Scorpius and Sagittarius, from Messier 16, at left, to the False Comet region, at right. This is the most spectacular region of sky, with its dense bright star clouds contrasting with the swirls of dark dusty nebulas. The region includes the Lagoon Nebula, left of centre, and the Cat’s Paw Nebula, right of centre, and the large Pipe Nebula, at top centre. The actual centre of the Milky Way lies at the centre of the frame, though thr true centre is out of sight hidden by dust clouds. This is a mosaic of 3 segments, each 5 x 2-minute exposures with the Rokinon 85mm lens at f/2.8 and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 2500. Tracked on the iOptron Sky Tracker. Shot from Tibuc Gardens Cottage at Coonabarabran, Australia, April 2017.
