Arch of the Autumn Milky Way - B&W Naked Eye View

The arch of the Milky Way in the northern autumn and early winter sky, from Arizona on December 5, 2015. The Milky Way extends from Aquila to the left, in the southwest to Cassiopeia at top right, to Perseus and Auriga at far right, in the northeast. I shot this from the Quailway Cottage near Portal, Arizona, latitude +32° N. The view is looking north toward the celestial pole. Polaris is just right of lower centre. This is a stack of 8 tracked exposures, each 3 minutes at f/2.8 with the 15mm lens and Canon 6D at ISO 1600, with the ground coming from one exposure to minimize blurring. The camera was on the iOptron Sky-Tracker.

Autumn Evening Zodiacal Light from Arizona - B&W Naked Eye View

The Zodiacal Light in the the late autumn evening sky from Arizona, overlooking the Chiricahua Mountains near Portal, AZ. The Zodiacal Light exends up from the horizon to the angled following the ecliptic. The summer Milky Way setting into the southwest extends up from the horizon to the right, running through the middle of the Summer Triangle stars. A satellite streaks across the Zodiacal Light, in a flaring path. I shot this from the field at Quailway Cottage. This is a stack of 7 x 2-minute exposures at f/2.8 with the 15mm full-frame fish-eye lens and Canon 6D at ISO 1250. All exposures were tracked on the iOptron Sky-Tracker. The ground came from one exposure to minimize blurring.

Panorama of the Northern Milky Way - B&W Naked Eye View

A panorama from Cygnus (at right, setting in the western sky in the evening), across the sky overhead in Perseus, Auriga and Taurus, and down into Orion, Canis Major, and Puppis (at left, low in the southern sky at midnight). This panorama covers about 200° of galactic longitude, from 60° in Cygnus to 260° in Puppis and takes in the entire northern swath of the Milky Way visible in autumn and early winter in the northern hemisphere, from the summer Milky Way at right to the winter Milky Way at left. Orion is at lower left, while the Pleiades and Andromeda Galaxy lie near the bottom edge. Canopus is the bright star just rising at far left, in haze. Vega and Altair are just setting at far right. The view here is looking outward to the near edge of the Milky Way, in the direction opposite the centre of the Galaxy. In this direction the Milky Way becomes dimmer and less defined. Notable are the many red H-alpha emission regions along the Milky Way, as well as the many lanes of dark interstellar dust nearby and obscuring the more distant stars. However, a brighter glow in Taurus partly obscures its Taurus Dark Clouds — that’s the Gegenschein, caused by sunlight reflecting off cometary dust particles directly opposite the Sun and marking the anti-solar point this night, by coincidence close to galactic longitude of 180° opposite the galactic centre. This is a panorama of 14 segments, most composed of 5 x 2.5-minute exposures with the filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1600 and 35mm lens at f/2.8. The end segments near the horizon are stacks of 2 x 2.5-minute exposures. The camera was oriented with the long dimension of the frame across the Milky Way, not along it, to maximize the amount of sky framed on either side of the Milky Way. The camera was on the iOptron Sky-Tracker. I shot the segements for his pan from Quailway Cottage, Arizona on December 8/9, 2015, with the end segments taken Dec 10/11, 2015. I decided to add in the horizon segments for completeness and to make a horizon-to-horizon panorama, despite the poorer sky quality near the horizon. Clouds and airglow tint the sky near the horizon and in other regions of the panorama. All stitching with Photoshop CC 2015.

Toward the Centre of the Galaxy-B&W Naked Eye View

A mosaic of the Milky Way around the centre of the Galaxy in Sagittarius and Scorpius. The view of the Milky Way extends from Scutum at left to Norma at right. Sagittarius is below centre; Scorpius is above centre. At top is bright reddish Mars just above Antares, while white Saturn appears left of yellow Antares. Corona Borealis is at bottom of the frame. The Milky Way is dotted with numerous bright nebulas and star clusters, many Messier objects. This is a mosaic of two panels, each a stack of 4 x 3-minute exposures with the 35mm lens at f/2.8 and the filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1600, tracking on the AP 400 mount. Each panel also has an image shot through the Kenko Softon A filter, and layered in using Lighten blend mode to add the star glows. I shot this April 12, 2016 from Tibuc Cottage, Australia. Stacking and stitching in Photoshop and Adobe Camera Raw. The Milky Way was nearly overhead when I shot this.

The Dark Emu Overhead-B&W Naked Eye View

The formation of dark lanes called the Dark Emu in Australian aboriginal sky lore, seen here in its entirety with it overhead in the April pre-dawn sky. The head is at right in Crux, as the Coal Sack, the body is around the Galactic Centre, the tail is at left in Scutum. Some airglow discolours the sky. This is a stack of 5 x 2.5-minute exposures with the 14mm Rokinon lens at f/2.8 and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1600. On the iOptron Sky-Tracker. From Tibuc Gardens Cottage near Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia, Aoril 28, 2017.

Milky Way and Zodical Light from Chile - B&W Naked Eye View

Southern Milky Way from Atacama Lodge, Chile (latitude 23° S) taken March 14/15, 2010. Taken witn Canon 5D MkII (modified) and Canon 15mm lens at f/4 for stack of 4 x 6 minute exposures at ISO 800. Horizon retained from just one image to retain detail and minimize blurring from tracking. But sky is Mean stack. Taken before dawn with zodiacal light becoming promiment in east.

Rivers of Stars and Water - B&W Naked Eye View

The Milky Way, often described in mythologies as a river in the sky, shines over the Bow River in Banff National Park on a very clear night in early June. The viewpoint is the famous Morant’s Curve on the Bow Valley Parkway, overlooking the Bow, the CPR rail line following the river, and the peaks of the Continental Divide, including Mt. Temple at right near Lake Louise. The location is named for Nicolas Morant who photographed trains in the Rockies using large format cameras from here when under the employ of the CPR. Mars is the bright object at centre, west of Scorpius with Antares and Saturn, then to the east, the star clouds of the galactic centre region of the Milky Way above the southern horizon, in Sagittarius. The Milky Way extends up into Scutum, Serpens, and Aquila. The sky is not black but a deep blue from the perpetual twilight in the sky in early June (this was June 4, 2016) at this latitude. Some green airglow also discolours the sky. Several satellite trails are in the sky as well. This is a stitch of 9 panels to form a partial panorama, looking south and west, each exposure being 20 seconds at f/2.5 with the 24mm Sigma Art lens and Nikon D750 at ISO 5000. Shot with the iPano panning unit and stitched with PTGui.

Milky Way Over Milk River - B&W Naked Eye View

The summer Milky Way over the Milk River Valley and sandstone formations of Writing-on-Stone Provincial park, in southern Alberta. On the horizon are the volcanic Sweetgrass Hills in Montana. The red tint at top is from an aurora active that night and the ground is partly illuminated by green auroral light from the north. The Summer Triangle stars are at top left. Sagittarius is on the horizon sinking into the low clouds at botton right which are illuminated by lights from Sweetgrass, Montana. Clouds and smoke from forest fires to the west cut down the transparency and clarity of the sky this night, especially toward the horizon. This is a stack of 4 x 3-minute tracked exposures for the sky, and 4 x 5-minute untracked exposures for the ground, all with the 15mm Canon full-frame fish-eye and Canon 6D at ISO 1000, on the iOptron Sky-Tracker unit.

Milky Way over Quailway Cottage-B&W Naked Eye View

The autumn Milky Way over the Quailway Cottage near Portal, Arizona, on a slightly hazy December evening, adding the star glows. We are looking due north here with Polaris just below centre. Cassiopeia is overhead at top. Cygnus is at left in the west; Auriga is at right in the east. This is with the 15mm full-frame fish-eye lens, and so takes in a wide 180° view of the sky, and from horizon to zenith. This is a stack of 4 x 3-minute exposures for the sky at f/4 and ISO 1600, with the camera tracking the sky, and 2 x 3-minute exposures for the ground at f/2.8 and ISO 1600 but with the camera not tracking, to avoid blurring the ground. There is some blurring in the trees, which I think looks fine. The tracker was the iOptron Sky-Tracker, the camera the Canon 6D.

Milky Way over Log Cabin at Reesor Ranch - B&W Naked Eye View

The summer Milky Way over the Log Cabin at the Reesor Ranch, July 16, 2013. This is a stack of 5 x 4 minute tracked exposures for the sky + one 4 minute untracked exposure for the ground. Each at f/2.8 with the 15mm lens and Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1600.

Centre of the Galaxy over Texas Star Party - B&W Naked Eye View

The galactic centre region of the Milky Way in Sagittarius and Scorpius, over the upper field of the Texas Star Party, near Fort Davis, Texas, May 13, 2015. About 600 people gather here each spring for a star party under very dark skies near the MacDonald Observatory. Sagittarius is left of centre and Scorpius is right of centre with the planet Saturn the bright object at the top edge right of centre. The dark lanes of the Dark Horse and Pipe Nebula areas lead from the Milky Way to the stars of Scorpius, including Antares. The semi-circular Corona Australis is just clearing the hilltop at left of centre. This is a composite of 5 x 3 minute exposures with the camera tracking the sky for more detail in the Milky Way without trailing. Each tracked exposure was at ISO 1600. The ground comes from 3 x 1.5-minute exposures at ISO 3200 taken immediately after the tracked exposures but with the drive turned off on the tracker. All are with the 24mm lens at f/2.8 and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII camera. The ground and sky layers were stacked and layered in Photoshop. The tracker was the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer. High haze added the natural glows around the stars — no filter was employed here.

Panorama of the Southern Milky Way (Fish-eye) - B&W Naked Eye View

A 270° nightscape panorama of the Milky Way from Carina (at right) to Scutum (at left) arching over the paddock next to the Tibuc Gardens Cottage near Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia, on April 12, 2016. The Dark Emu is visible in its entirety, from the head in Crux at right to his feet in Scutum at left. Scorpius with Mars and Saturn are at top left. Some green airglow tints the horizon. The ground is illuminated only by starlight. This is a stitch of 6 panels, each 2.5-minute exposures, all tracked on the iOptron Sky Tracker, with the 15mm full-frame fish eye lens (in portrait orientation) at f/2.8 and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 3200. The sky is not trailed but the tracking has blurred the ground slightly. Stitched in PTGui software with fish-eye projection.

Panorama of the Southern Milky Way (Spherical)-B&W Naked Eye View

A 360° nightscape panorama of the Milky Way from Carina (at right) to Scutum (at left) arching over the paddock next to the Tibuc Gardens Cottage near Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia, on April 12, 2016. The Dark Emu is visible in its entirety, from the head in Crux at right to his feet in Scutum at left. Scorpius with Mars and Saturn are at top left. Some green and red airglow tints the horizon. The ground is illuminated only by starlight. This is a stitch of 8 panels, each 2.5-minute exposures, all tracked on the iOptron Sky Tracker, with the 15mm full-frame fish eye lens (in portrait orientation) at f/2.8 and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 3200. The sky is not trailed but the tracking has blurred the ground slightly. Stitched in PTGui software with spherical projection. The original is 12,000 x 8,000 pixels.

Miljy Way Rising #3 - Galactic Centre Rising - Naked Eye View

The southern Milky Way and galactic centre rising on an April night in Australia, with the constellations of Sagittarius and Scorpius coming up, and the bulge of the galactic centre above the treetops. The sky is discoloured by some bands of airglow. Alpha and Beta Centauri are at top right. Antares is left of centre. The dark lanes here form the neck and body of the Dark Emu. This is a stack of 8 x 45-second exposures for the ground, mean combined to smooth noise, and one 45-second untracked exposure for the sky, all with the Rokinon 14m lens at f/2.5 and Canon 6D at ISO 3200. Taken as part of a 500-frame time-lapse sequence.

Scorpius, Sagittarius and the Galactic Centre - Naked Eye View

The spectacular area around the Galactic Centre of the Milk Way in Scorpius (at right) and Sagittarius (at left) as shot from Australia with this area nearly overhead in the wee hours of an April morning. Saturn is left of centre. Yellow Antares is right of centre. The region is rich in nebulas and star clusters. The Dark Horse and Pipe Nebula is above centre. The Sagittarius Starcloud is left of centre. The Small Sagittarius Starcloud, M24, is at upper left in the Milky Way. This is a stack of 5 x 3-minute exposures with the 35mm Canon L-Series lens at f/2.8 and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1600, with an additional exposure taken through the Kenko Softon A filter layered in to add the star glows.

Southern Sky Splendours-B&W Naked Eye View

Splendours of the southern Milky Way from Vela (at top right) to Centaurus (at bottom left), including the Carina Nebula, Crux and Coal Sack, and Alpha and Beta Centauri. A part of the huge Gum Nebula is at far right. The False Cross is at right, with the large cluster NGC 2516, the Diamond Cluster, below it. The globular cluster Omega Centauri is at upper left. This is a stack of 4 x 3-minute exposures at f/2.8 with the 35mm lens and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 2000. Median combined to help eliminate cloud that was moving in. On the iOptron Sky-Tracker.

Southern Milky Way Panorama (Chile 2011) - B&W Naked Eye View

A panorama of the entire southern hemisphere Milky Way, from Orion at right to Aquila at left. This was taken from Atacama Lodge near San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, on May 2, 2011. It is an 11-segment mosaic, each segment being 4 x 6 minutes + 1 x 6 minutes with a Kenko Softon filter, all at f/4 and ISO 800 with the Canon 5D MkII and Canon L-series 35m lens. Some airglow added sky gradients at right early in the night in the Orion to Crux portion. Note the sweep of bright blue stars from Scorpius to Orion but angled above then across and below the Milky Way — this is Gould's Belt of new hot stars near us.

South Polar Sky from Australia - B&W Naked Eye View

The region of sky around the South Celestial Pole, at left, and to the west at right. The two Magellanic Clouds are at centre, the Large one above and the Small Cloud below. The bright star Archernar is at top. At left is the southern Milky Way including Carina, Crux and Centaurus. The Carina Nebula is at upper left with the Southern Cross Below it and Alpha and Beta Centauri rising above the trees. The house is the Tibuc Gardens Cottage, my residence for my 2016 Australia astrophoto excursion. Yes, I left the light on! This is a stack of 5 x 1.5-minute exposures at f/2.8 with the 15mm full-frame fish-eye lens and Canon 5D MkII at ISO 3200, with the ground coming from one of the tracked exposures to minimize trailing.

Ultrawide Angle Southern Milky Way - December 2012 - B&W Naked Eye View

An ultrawide angle image of the southern Milky Way, taken from Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia, December 13/14, 2012, using an 15mm Canon full-frame fish-eye lens and Canon 5D MkII camera for a stack of 4 x 6 minute exposures at f/4 and ISO 800. Jupiter is at top left, Orion to the right of Jupiter. Sirius is left of centre, the large Gum Nebula is at centre, while the Carina Nebula, Crux and the Pointer stars, Alpha and Beta Centauri, are rising at lower right. The Magellanic Clouds are at upper right. Some high altitude haze added glows around bright stars.

The Milky Way, Venus, and the Zodiacal Light - B&W Naked Eye View

Venus shines brightly, and nearly at its brightest at magnitude -4.7, in the dawn sky on a very frosty morning at 5 am, on September 17, 2015, from home in southern Alberta. Venus appears amid the faint glow of the Zodiacal Light, sometimes called the “False Dawn,” stretching vertically from the dawn horizon in the east, up and to the right, and reaching the Milky Way that runs down the frame from top centre to bottom right. Orion and the winter stars shine in the Milky Way, with Sirius above the trees at lower right. The Beehive Cluster, M44, appears as the small group of stars above Venus. The Pleiades, M45, is at top right. Mars is the brightest object left of Venus, with the bright star Regulus just below it and rising in the east. The stars of the Big Dipper are at far left at the edge of the frame. The sky is beginning to brighten with the real glow of morning. This is a stack of 4 x 2-minute exposures, tracked and mean combine stacked, for the sky and 2 x 2-minute exposures, untracked and stacked, for the ground to minimize blurring in the starlit ground. The Canon 6D was on the iOptron Sky-Tracker, shooting at ISO 1250 with the 15mm full-frame fish-eye lens at f/3.5. The stacking with a mean combine stack mode smooths noise in both sky and ground.

Mosaic of the Wonder-filled Winter Milky Way - B&W Naked Eye View

A mosaic of the northern winter Milky Way and brilliant stars and constellations in and around Orion the Hunter. The Milky Way extends here from Perseus in the north to Canis Major in the south. Throughout the scene are numerous dark lanes and dust clouds such as the Taurus Dark Clouds at upper right. The Milky Way is dotted with numerous red “hydrogen-alpha” regions of emission nebulosity, such as the bright Rosette Nebula at lower left and the California Nebula at upper right. The curving arc of Barnard’s Loop surrounds the east side of Orion. Orion is below centre, with Sirius at lower left. Taurus is at upper right and Gemini at upper left. Auriga is at top and Perseus at upper right. I shot the segments for this on a very clear night on December 5, 2015 from the Quailway Cottage at Portal, Arizona. This is a mosaic of 8 segments, in two columns of 4 rows, with generous overlap. Each segment was made of 4 x 2.5-minute exposures stacked with mean combine stack mode to reduce noise, plus 2 x 2.5-minute exposures taken through the Kenko Softon filter layered in with Lighten belnd mode to add the star glows. Each segment was shot at f/2.8 with the original 35mm Canon L-series lens and the filter-modified (by Hutech) Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1600, riding on the iOptron Sky-Tracker. All stacking and stitching in Photoshop CC 2015. The soft diffusion filter helps bring out the star colors in this area of sky rich in brilliant giant stars.

Ghostly Glows of a Truly Dark Sky - B&W Naked Eye View

A 160° panorama showing: - the Zodiacal Light (at right in the west) - the Milky Way (up from the centre, in the south, to the upper right) - the Zodiacal Band (faintly visible running across the frame at top) - the Gegenschein (a brightening of the Zodiacal Band at left of frame in the east in Leo) Along the Milky Way are dark lanes of interstellar dust, aprticularly in Taurus above and to the right of Orion. Red nebulas of glowing gas also lie along the Milky Way, such as Barnard’s Loop around Orion. The Zodiacal Light, Band and Gegenschein all lie along the ecliptic, as do Mars, Venus and Jupiter shown here. Orion is at centre, in the south, with Canis Major and the bright star Sirius below and to the left of Orion. Canopus is just setting on the southern horizon at centre. To the right of Orion is Taurus and the Pleiader star cluster at the top of the Zodiacal Light pyramid. Venus is the bright object in the Zodiacal Light at right, in the west, while fainter Mars is below Venus. At far right at the frame edge, in the northwest, is the Andromeda Galaxy, M31. Jupiter is the bright object at upper left, in the east, in the Zodiacal Band, and near the Beehive star cluster. The Zodiacal Light, Band and Gegenschein are caused by sunlight reflecting off cometary and meteoric dust in the inner solar system. The Gegenschein, or “counterglow,” can be seen with the naked eye but is a subtle and diffuse brightening of the sky in the spot opposite the Sun. It is caused by sunlight reflecting directly back from comet dust, with the effect greatest at the point opposite the Sun. Glows like the Zodiacal Light require reasonably dark skies, but the fainter Zodiacal Band and Gegenschein require very dark skies. Glows on the horizon are from distant SIlver City, Las Cruces and El Paso. The brighter sky at right is from the last vestiges of evening twilight. Some green and red airglow bands also permeate the sky. I shot this March 10, 2015 from the summit of Highway 15 through the Gila National Wilderness north of Silver City, in New Mexico, from an altitude of 7900 feet. The panorama takes in 160° of sky from the western (right) to the east (left) and from below the horizon to past the zenith point overhead. It is a stitch, with PTGui software, of 5 segments, each consisting of 2 stacked 3-minute exposures, at f/3.5 with the 15mm full-frame fish-eye lens, on the Canon 5D Mark II at ISO 1600. The camera was on the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer tracker, so the stars are sharp but the ground is slightly blurred. This version is re-rendered to be more rectangular and less fish-eye in appearance from the original, though in doing so is cropped somewhat.