Hi all from an old newbie. Firstly, many thanks to you all for the fascinating posts I've read so far at this forum.
Despite being 70, my “astrophotography” hobby is literally only three days old. So my understanding is indeed nebulous - i.e. vague and hazy. Would any of you please be kind enough to push me in the right direction?
Specifically, could anybody please tell me what I was looking at in the attached photo?
Last Tuesday (today is Good Friday) I put my DSLR camera on a tripod at the front of my house, in the Perth Hills, pointed it upwards and took some short time exposures. Mostly blurry stuff, but it was a start. The next day I managed to achieve better focus and timing and got identifiable shots of the Southern Cross and what I think was Betelgeuse and bits of Orion (?).
On the third day (last night) I was getting better shots of the previous targets, but I also took some random upwards shots while I was trying to work out how to get a basic mount to allow the camera to point up at a very steep angle. During that process I got a very intriguing picture but - being a rank newbie - I’ve no idea what I’ve captured! Absolutely stunned to see how much the camera could see that my fading old eyes can’t. Just amazing. I may have to buy a telescope now…
I have installed Stellarium but I don’t know where to start looking for a match up. All I know was that I was pointed vaguely south and up!
Newbies… who needs ‘em? Can anybody take pity on me please?
Cheers,
Chris
Apparently it was taken at 7.26pm on 13th April. ISO 1600. basic 50mm f1.8 Canon lens. 5 seconds.