I was lucky to squeeze in some astrophotgraphy on Friday night and take advantage of a moonless night. The forecast was for showers at night but when I went outside there were large areas of sky, free of cloud.
Not to waste taking out the serious stuff, I chose a quick set up and wondered how much clear sky I was going to be able to utilise. I had to wait for a large bank of cloud to move away from the SCP so I could set the tripod up and sight the Nano Tracker for polar alignment. It did manage to clear long enough for me to do that so I just used the Tamron 500mm f8 lens on the modded Canon 550d(UVIR cut filter). There seemed to be more areas of clear sky around Sagittarius so I decided to have a go at M8 and M20 in the same field.
I only got about 23mins worth of total exposure (52 x 25 secs) at 3200 iso before I ran out of clear sky in that area. It was better than nothing and I didn't waste a moonless night, even though it was under Bortle 6 skies. I also took a shot of the Jewel Box cluster with Mimosa but my focus may have been a tad out, just over 4 mins exposure on this one (10 x 25 secs) with the mirror lens as well. The dark area to the left is part of the Coal Sack.
Last edited by Mickoid; 22-06-2020 at 11:21 PM.
Reason: Added new photo and text
I was tossing up between these exact two the other night. I'd love to be able to capture a field of view that wide, I had to choose though. Just a bit wider and I think you may be able to squeeze the cat's paw in?
Great stuff for 23 mins Mick. That 500mm has proved to be a good pick up for you. I like the framing and orientation on this the way they're kinda tucked away in the corners opposite each other creates a nice dynamic.
