Emu, Ostrich, or Rhea

OzEclipse (Joe Cali) · #1 13-01-2024, 10:20 AM

Gugurmin, is the Wiradjiri name of the dark constellation more commonly known as the emu or celestial emu. Mosaic was taken from my property in Wiradjiri country near Young which is why I have used the Wiradjiri name.

The emu constellation interpretation exists in the dreamtime of all Australian indigenous mythologies. It also appears as an ostrich in ancient southern African cultures and also appears interpreted as a Rhea in South American cultures.

This is a mosaic of 12 images 6 high by 2 wide taken with a 50mm lens at f2.8. 60s per image tracked ISO1600. The silhouette was captured separately and added. In the past, I have tried standing still even for a 10-15s exposure and I always come out as a blur.

There's some light pollution on the horizon, the broad yellow glow in front of the Milky Way Core probably comes from Sydney, 230 km east, the green white glow in the bottom right corner comes from a large mine near Galong. The layer of green glow above that is probably airglow.

Although most images of this type are captured in early winter, January just before dawn is a great time. It's when we have the least cloud and best transparency of the year.

Pentax K1 & Pentax M 50mm f1.7 @ f2.8 ISO 1600 12 x 60s
Raw processed in Lightroom, median stacked in Photoshop.
Captured Jan 19, 2021

Joe Cali