Crux to Carina, from Stockport SA

[Amaranthus]

Here's my first attempt at a nightscape (really more of a wide-field starscape), covering the Milky Way from Crux through to Carina.

Taken at Stockport, SA, on Saturday 3rd May at around 9pm.

Images captured with a Sony Alpha NEX-3 DSLR, based on 22 x 25 second exposures at ISO 1600 and f/3.5 (18 mm lens). The camera was piggybacked on my C8 (on an alt-az mount), to avoid star trails.

Stacked in DSS, processed in Startools, final touches in Paint.NET.

[Astroman]

Good work Barry. Hows the Light Pollution at Stockport now? Last time I was there the dome of Adelaide seemed to be growing.

[Amaranthus]

Andrew, the light dome is quite distinct as a persistent orange glow from the south. It is annoying, but doesn't have a large impact that I can notice - the LMC was quite low by the end of the evening and yet was still quite clear to the naked eye, and the Milky Way still stood out richly. But I'd say Stockport is inching towards a Bortle 3 site status.

The above photo was taken of the southern sky (obviously), with the light dome intruding on the bottom right (it was taken when Crux was still rising).