The asterism of the False Cross in Vela and Carina, at left, with Gamma Velorum, a bright blue supergiant star, at right. In between are faint arcs of nebulosity in the Gum Nebula. To the left of Gamma Velorum is the open star clister NGC 2547. Below the bottom star of the False Cross, Epsilon Carinae or Avior, is the large naked-eye star cluster NGC 2516. To the right of the right star of the False Cross, Delta Velorum, is the loose open cluster IC 2391. This is a stack of 5 x 2.5-minute exposures with the 85mm Rokinon lens at f/2 and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 2000, plus one exposure layered in taken through a Kenko Softon A filter to add the star glows. On the iOptron Sky-Tracker, from Tibuc Gardens Cottage at Coonabarabran, Australia.
The dark nebula on the Cygnus-Cepheus border nicknamed the Funnel Cloud Nebula (a name provided by Alan Whitman in a 2006 Sky and Telescope article) but that is a very prominent naked eye feature to the northern Milky Way, more obvious as a dark area than the Northern Coal Sack to the south. This is a fine object for binoculars and the telephoto lens shot here provides the field of most binoculars. It is also known as Le Gentil 3, from the 18th century French astronomer, and also LDN 1003 and 1029. It resembles a dark tornado with a large mass of dark nebulosity at top emerging from a narrow neck below. This is a stack of 6 x 2-minute exposures with the Canon 200mm lens at f/2.8 and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 800. Taken May 28, 2019 on a not very transparent night.
The core of the Milky Way in Sagittarius low in the south over the Frenchman River valley at Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan. This is from the 76 Ranch Corral site. Grasslands is a Dark Sky Preserve. The frame takes in the openj star clusters M6 and M7 just above the horizon in Scorpius, on up through the Sagittarius Starcloud and galactic core, then up past the red nebulas M8 and M20, the Small Sagittarius Starcloud M24 flanked by the clusters M23 and M25, then the nebulas M17 and M16 at top in Serpens. The globular cluster M55 is visible at far left. Jupiter is bright at right above reddish Antares, Saturn is dimmer at left, to the left of the globular cluster M22. I shot this August 27, 2019. This is a stack of 5 x 3-minute tracked exposures for the sky (to avoid star trails) blended with a stack of 5 x 3-minute untracked exposures for the ground, all with the 35mm Canon lens at f/2.8 and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII camera at ISO 1600. The tracker was the Star Adventurer.
