The centre of the galaxy area of the Milky Way toward Sagittarius and Scorpius, with the Sagittarius Starcloud right of centre, and the Lagoon Nebula (M8) left of centre. The Cat's Paw Nebula (NGC 6334) in Scorpius is at upper right, the Swan Nebula (M17) and Eagle Nebula (M16) are at lower left. To the right of them is the Small Sagittarius Starcloud (M24). At the very top is the Snake Nebula (B72). The main mass of dark nebula is the Pipe Nebula (B78). Above M24 at left is the open cluster M23 while below the M24 star cloud is the cluster M25. The globular M22 is at the bottom edge. At right of frame are the open clusters M6 (in the dark area of the Milky Way) and M7 (in the bright starcloud). I took this at about 3 am local time, Monday, March 31 from the Warrumbungles Motel grounds near Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia at the OzSky Star Safari 2014. This is a stack of 4 x 4 minute exposures at f/2.8 with the Sigma 50mm lens on the Canon 60Da at ISO 800. The camera was tracking the sky using the iOptron SkyTracker. I've oriented it horizontally as that's the way the camera was oriented to frame the area as it was rising in the east in the sky. However, from northern latitudes, this area would be framed vertically with the right side of the image in Scorpius (the area farthest south in the Milky Way) at bottom.
A portrait of the northern autumn constellation of Cepheus the King. The large red nebula at the bottom (to the south) is IC 1396. Mu Cephei is the red star, aka the Garnet Star, on its edge. This is with the filter-modified Canon 5D MkII camera at ISO 1600 and Sigma 50mm lens at f/2.8 for a stack of 13 x 60- and 90-second exposures with the Star Adventurer tracker (median combined to help eliminate thin clouds drifting through), plus an exposure through the Kenko Softon A filter layered in for the star glows.
This is a portrait of the southern region of Cepheus the King that takes in the red emission nebulas in the constellation. The area is also laced with dark lanes of dust. The main nebula is IC 1396, aka the Elephant Trunk Nebula, at bottom. Above and to the right is the arc of Sharpless 2-129. At lower left is NGC 7380 near the edge and Sharpless 2-132, the Lion Nebula, at bottom left. Sharpless 2-140 is at upper left. Unfortunately, the Cave Nebula Sh 2-155 is just cut off at upper left. The stars above IC 1396 are part of the Cepheus OB2 stellar association. The very orange star at centre on the edge of IC 1396 is Herschel's Garnet Star, aka Mu Cephei. The double star and variable star Delta Cephei is at lower left. This is a stack of 17 x 1.5-minute exposures with the Canon EF-L 135mm lens at f/2.8, on the red-sensitive Canon Ra at ISO 1600, all on the Star Adventurer Mini tracker. The lens was also equipped with a Haida Clear Night light pollution reduction filter. Taken from home on a very clear night in late August. An application of a Pro Contrast filter from the Color EFX plug-in from the Nik Collection 5 helped snap up contrast and bring out the nebulosity, as did using curves with luminosity masks generated by the Lumenzia extension panel. All stacking, aligning and processsing in Photoshop.
