Reflections at Lake Tyrrel (ultra-wide Milky Way, star trails and time-lapse)

[alexch]

Hi All,

Last weekend I went to Lake Tyrrel inaugural star party (NW Victoria), which deserves a detailed report. I hope to find time to write about it soon.

The weather was good and still so I set up the camera at the lake hoping to catch some reflections and it turned out quite nice.

Attached are the images of Zodiacal Light and star trails after the sunset.

The all-night time lapse shows setting Venus, followed by the the Milky Way band and then Jupiter in the morning. The ground becomes softly illuminated by the Moon light around 3 am:
Tech. details:
Nikon D700, 14-24mm lens @14mm f/2.8, ISO 3200, 30 seconds.
Star trails made from 194 30 second shots.

Thanks for looking,
Alex

[strongmanmike]

Gee Alex, the software you use is seriously warped :P

Quite spectacular, just needs a sillohette of a herd of Emus and you would have your David Malin entry :thumbsup:

Mike

[TrevorW]

Great image Alex

[alexch]

You reckon I should complain to Nikon and get my money back ? ;)



Thanks,
I will contact Melbourne Zoo and try to hire some Emu's. The only problem is there might not be enough time to train them to sit still for a few hours at night... ;)

[alexch]

Thanks, Trevor.

[TheAstroGuy]

Alex,

You've done it again, just when i think it's safe to go back in the water you scare me with your brilliance:)

You have such an artistic way of presenting images, the colours and framing are just wonderful, Both you and Martin are in the Super Justice League of Astrophotography

Kindest Regards

Shane

[alexch]

Thanks Shane - you are too kind :)

[alexch]

Two more from the same set:

[dugnsuz]

I thought the images were awesome until I checked out the video.
Jeez Alex that is a piece of fine art!
Beautiful, super-smooth and very well thought out.
Mucho Kudos!
Doug

[h0ughy]

job well done

[RB]

Sensational work !
Loved the video.

:thumbsup:

[Octane]

Alex,

Magnificent. That zodiacal light is stunning. The reflections of the stars in the lake, surreal.

Venus setting looks amazing!

Well done, as always.

H

[star1961]

I had a great time and thank you so much Alex for sharing your equipment. It definitely made the star party a success
Lisa

[Martin Pugh]

Terrific work Alex..really very smart.

cheers
Martin

[Ronnie]

Thank$ Alex,
I got to see nebulae i had never seen except in pictures through your scope

[spearo]

Great shots
I've been wanting to do something like that myself for some time now
great outcome
frank

[multiweb]

Excellent! Terrific work Alex. Very talented. Loved the video/music :thumbsup:

[gregbradley]

Fabulous result Alex. You've got this type of presentation down nicely.

Greg.

[hickny]

I quickly read through the posts before going back to watch the video. All i can say is :eyepop:FANTASTIC:eyepop:.

[DarkRevenge]

Amazing pics Alex! :thumbsup: Thx for sharing.

Cheers, Luis.

[SkyViking]

That's just awesome Alex, quite an impressive sight! Both the video and the single frames are absolutely fantastic. The zodiacal light is exquisite in those images. Thanks for sharing!

[luigi]

The 2nd Luis from Argentina says ¨w o w w w¨
I specially like the MW across the lake with its reflection, it´s a fantastic piece of art to my eyes.

Cheers!
Luis (the first or 2nd*)

* history shows there is a strong trend towards numbering people named Luis.

[StephenM]

Great work once again Alex! Well done.

Cheers,
Stephen

[marco]

This is gonna be another APOD Alex :) Outstanding and charming as usual, I love your shots!

Clear Skies
Marco

[mswhin63]

Great stuff, love the video.

[seeker372011]

:bowdown::bowdown::bowdown::

[alexch]

Doug, David, Andrew, Humayun, Lisa, Martin, Ronnie, Frank, Marc, Greg, Peter, Rolf, Luis (1 and 2), Stephen, Marco, Malcolm, Narayan - thanks heaps for your kind comments!!! Your feedback certainly makes the all the efforts worthwhile!

[marc4darkskies]

Your images never dissappoint Alex! Amazing stuff! :thumbsup:

Cheers, Marcus

[alexch]

Thanks Marcus, I find your you deep sky work most fascinating.

[alexch]

I wrote a small article about the star party on my blog:
http://www.terrastro.com/galleries/lake-tyrrel-star-party/#more-607

[John Hothersall]

Just splendid!

John.

[star1961]

We thought the light was from bright Venus but it was the zodiacal light? Saw it and didn't know it! Now I do

[alexch]

Indeed the faint triangle of light is the sun light dispersed by the dust particles in the Solar System. Best seen around equinoxes in spring at sunset and in autumn at sunrise.

Cheers,
Alex

[Hagar]

Lovely images Alex, you have certainly raised the bar on ultra wide field images.

Well done again.

[Phil Hart]

top stuff again alex! glad the skies worked out there.. you did much better than we managed at IISAC. sounds like the new scope is going well..

phil

[iceman]

Beautiful work as always, Alex. Lovely video.

Who hosts and organises the Lake Tyrell star party?

[star1961]

It was organized by the sea lake community and was brilliant we were all spoiled with food and company would be good to see more scopes at the next one in 2012 but I hope to be there regardless. My new addiction is star parties. Would love to go to IIS in 2011? Oct? It's in my calendar!