A "deepscape" image of the head of Scorpius with the colourful Rho Ophiuchi nebula complex culminating over the icy peak of Mount Custer in Montana, as taken from the north shore of Cameron Lake in Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, Canada. Antares is the yellow star, with the globular cluster Messier 4 just to the right. The mountain is lit only by starlight. This is from latitude 49° N so this area of sky is low in the south and just clears this mountain even with Scorpius at its highest, which it was here. This is a blend of tracked and untracked exposures: 4 x 1-minute tracked at ISO 3200 for the sky plus a single 4-minute untracked exposure at ISO 800 for the ground, all with the Samyang 85mm AF lens at f/2.8 on the Canon Ra camera, and on the Move-Shoot-Move MSM tracker, polar aligned with the laser. Out of the 8 tracked shots I took for the set, half were unacceptably trailed. Taken on a very clear night June 2, 2021 with the tracked shots taken after the untracked image. That's a mistake with the MSM as it can take 2 or 3 minutes for the gears to re-engage and start tracking, wasting those shots and valuable time.
The galactic core region of the Milky Way over Upper Waterton Lake in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta on an early June night. Scorpius is at right, Sagittarus at centre, with the Galactic Dark Horse and Small Sagittarius Starcloud above and the pink Lagoon Nebula at centre. The M6 and M7 star clusters are just above the end of the lake. I shot this on a very clear night, June 1, 2021, from the Prince of Wales Hotel grounds. The sky is slightly blue from the impending moonrise and the solstice twilight. This is a blend of a tracked and untracked exposures: a single 2-minute tracked exposure at ISO 1600 with the MSM Move Shoot Move tracker, with a single 4-minute untracked exposure with the MSM off and at ISO 400, all with the 35mm Canon L lens at f/2.8 and Canon EOS Ra. An additional 30-second exposure at ISO 200 adds the town lighting to prevent that area from being overexposed in the longer exposures. It was windy enough that the MSM proved bouncy and created slightly trailed stars in all shots. Blended, masked and stacked with Photoshop.
The view of the Milky Way over Upper Waterton Lake in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, processed to resemble the actual naked eye view. Scorpius is at right, Sagittarus at centre, with the Galactic Dark Horse and Small Sagittarius Starcloud above. The M6 and M7 star clusters are just above the end of the lake. I shot this on a very clear night, June 1, 2021, from the Prince of Wales Hotel grounds. This image simulates the monochromatic naked-eye view. This is a blend of a tracked and untracked exposures: a single 2-minute tracked exposure at ISO 1600 with the MSM Move Shoot Move tracker, with a single 4-minute untracked exposure with the MSM off and at ISO 400, all with the 35mm Canon L lens at f/2.8 and Canon EOS Ra. An additional 30-second exposure at ISO 200 adds the town lighting to prevent that area from being overexposed in the longer exposures. Blended, masked and stacked with Photoshop.
