Milky Way Wide Field

[TidaLpHasE]

:)Hi all, i decided to drive to a darker site after work this morning.

It was clear here in the suburbs, so i loaded the car up with all my gear and took off.

I had no real destination, i just headed Nth Westish down the highway.

I ended up just East of Ballarat, around 30kms, it was an old fishing spot i used to go, and thought it would provide me with the darker skies i was looking for.

Well as might be expected, as soon as i arrived the clouds rolled in and light rain began to fall:sad:

It cleared for a few minutes, just long enough for me to plonk the 350 on the car roof and get this 58 second image.

ISO 1600, Av 4.0, 10mm

So after a 200km round trip, at least i got one pic:P

It has turned out not bad, the glow on the right is Ken's security light for his EQ mount, could you turn it off next time please Ken:P

[davidpretorius]

and what a pic!!! well done. a 350d although well down the track or whatever version it is at the time will stay on my wishlist!!!

this is a lovely photo. Imagine a little extra exposure???

Ok, what is the max amount of exposure time these wide fields can have before the stars get trails???

[[1ponders]]

Very nice shot TP. :clap:

DP it depends on the focal length of your lense. Roughly near 0 Dec T=700/FL so for a 50mm lens you get about 14 sec. Close to the pole roughtly T=1000/FL so again for a 50mm lense, 20 sec. Near the pole with TD's 10, theoretically 100sec. Though you have to take into consideration how close the edge of the field will be to 0 dec and adjust accordingly

[atalas]

Beautiful shot Trevor !

[RB]

That's a wonderful shot Trevor.
I like the foreground and the water, it gives the image a great feel.
You've captured the starry night above beautifuly after the cloud and rain.

You've showed great dedication to image the Milkyway and it payed off for you in a single shot.

:thumbsup:

[fringe_dweller]

I knew you had the magic eye :) you have done it again Trev!

[TidaLpHasE]

:)Gee thanks for the nice comments.

I went to the same spot again this morning, and had clear sky all round.

I set up the 350 on the tripod while i was getting the EQ6 ready and took the first two shots below, first shot is 62 seconds ISO 1600, second shot is 379 seconds ISO 800.

I could actually see the asterism in octans, now that's a first for me, these city lights will never let me see them from my backyard.

Even still, my alignment was out and i only took a couple of prime shots of M42, and Eta, and decided to mount the 350 atop of the 80.

Third pic below is piggy back 90 seconds ISO 1600, Fourth is 120 seconds ISO 1600 piggy back
Fifth pic is 50 seconds ISO 400 on tripod
And the last is 4 secondsISO 800 on tripod

I needed more time to setup and get better alignment, but once the moon set, and i unloaded all my gear, it was 3 am.

I will keep looking for another dark site, as the glow from Melbourne is still way too much in these pics.

Thanks again.

cheers.

[rumples riot]

Great images. Like the widefields

[atalas]

Beautiful shots Trevor !

[xelasnave]

I like them, very "artisitic" and creative.
alex

[RB]

Great images Trevor.

:)

[rochler]

I definitely agree, they're really artistic. Good effort there :prey2:

[Striker]

Wow Trevor I love that last photo...

[TidaLpHasE]

:)Thanks for the comments.

I took this image this morning, seeing was poor and clouds where rolling in here and there.

I don't let that stop me from an imaging session though, a night not imaging is a night lost.

This is a 133 second exposure Av 3.5 ISO 1600.

The effect of the cloud has given it heaps of character, had to crop and re-crop to fit size limits.

[ving]

very interesting shots trevor, the very top one looks almost like an oil painting :)

[[1ponders]]

Excellent cloud nebula, Trevor. I really like that shot. Nice clean stars to boot :thumbsup:

[beren]

:thumbsup: Like Tony love that last image , great work

[TidaLpHasE]

:)I thought it looked like cloud nebula:lol:, or even a new galaxy i had imaged, i love this shot the best out of all my Milky Way pics, this is my favorite so far.

By the way, does anyone have the link for "astrphotographers anonymous", my name is Trevor, and it's been 8 hours since i last imaged.:P

[iceman]

Very nice Trev, putting the 350D to great use!

[xelasnave]

I think that last shot could really confuse guys in the Nortern Hemisphere they would think we have an unbelievable light show down here
looks great really
alex

[astroboy]

Great shots Trevor theres nothing like some milkyway shots to get a guy hooked on imaging.
What lens are you using.

Zane

[TidaLpHasE]

:)Thanks guys for the nice comments.

Zane, i am using a Canon 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, it wasn't cheap, but i think well worth the dollars for getting widefield shots like this.

Here's another pic i converted from the same morning, cropped and re-sized to fit.

I miss my dark sky site, and it's only been a couple of days:sad: