Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds

gregbradley · #1 26-08-2016, 11:42 AM

Attachment 203764I am at my dark site and unbelievably it was clear for some of the night despite a poor forecast. Clouds rolled in a few times but cleared again.

I thought a Milky Way shot was in order.

Freezing cold at about 3C and windy I was freezing out in the field with a little gas heater to help only slightly. But the conditions were good apart from that.

Zeiss Loxia 21mm F2.8 wide open and Sony A7r2 ISO6400 x 30 seconds and 20 images stitched together in PTGui Pro.

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/163949689/large regular size

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/ima...49689/original large size

Greg.

Atmos (Colin) · #2 26-08-2016, 11:53 AM

Very nice Greg! With a 21mm lens I didn't think it would have taken 20 panel to make it but it looks to have been worth it

gregbradley · #3 26-08-2016, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Atmos

Very nice Greg! With a 21mm lens I didn't think it would have taken 20 panel to make it but it looks to have been worth it

I may have been conservative with the overlaps and didn't really check them that much so I gave it plenty of overlap. I think that helps anyway with the stitching and distortion.

Greg.

Atmos (Colin) · #4 26-08-2016, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregbradley

I may have been conservative with the overlaps and didn't really check them that much so I gave it plenty of overlap. I think that helps anyway with the stitching and distortion.

Greg.

Whatever works, ended with a very pleasing result

Derek Klepp · #5 26-08-2016, 03:54 PM

That's a really nice mosaic the few clouds and the glow to the left behind the dead tree make it just that much more interesting. Looks like that lense is a keeper.

gregbradley · #6 26-08-2016, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derek Klepp

That's a really nice mosaic the few clouds and the glow to the left behind the dead tree make it just that much more interesting. Looks like that lense is a keeper.

Thanks Derek. The glow to the left is Canberra about 150kms away.

Yes the lens is a gem. There are rumours Zeiss may do a Loxia 15mm. That could be tempting. There is a Zeiss Batis 18mm for Sony FE mount. That is the lens Zeiss recommends for astro as it has virtually no coma and distortion wide open. But these are over $2000 lenses so the difference between 18 and 21mm is not great enough to be tempting. I still have a Nikon 14-24 somewhere (if I can find where I put it!).

Greg

Atmos (Colin) · #7 26-08-2016, 05:31 PM

From what I have read the 14-24 is utterly brilliant, on my wish list

strongmanmike (Michael) · #8 26-08-2016, 07:59 PM

Hi Grego, out at "my" observatory (imaging a galaxy near the SCP

) looking at this on my phone (errr after a coupla beers

) and mate it looks fantastic, love it....Ill have another look on the propa puter monitor tomoz but I think I like it

...hic

Mike

RickS (Rick) · #9 26-08-2016, 08:17 PM

Lovely image, Greg! Looks like it appeals to sober folks as well

strongmanmike (Michael) · #10 27-08-2016, 12:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickS

Lovely image, Greg! Looks like it appeals to sober folks as well

Oi..I stopped at 2ltrs, just enough to mellow me out a little, still recognise a good skyscape..hic

Mike

Retrograde (Pete) · #11 27-08-2016, 10:30 AM

That is superb Greg!

gregbradley · #12 27-08-2016, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Atmos

From what I have read the 14-24 is utterly brilliant, on my wish list

Yes its a great lens. 14mm starts to get a slight fisheye effect though and corner performance is not quite as good as the 21 but that's understandable as its wider. The 14-24 makes wide nightscapes very easy at 14mm. The trick is to avoid star elongation above the Milky Way where it gets stretched too much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Hi Grego, out at "my" observatory (imaging a galaxy near the SCP

) looking at this on my phone (errr after a coupla beers

) and mate it looks fantastic, love it....Ill have another look on the propa puter monitor tomoz but I think I like it

...hic

Mike

Cheers Mike. I am glad it went well with your chill out!

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickS

Lovely image, Greg! Looks like it appeals to sober folks as well

Hehe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Oi..I stopped at 2ltrs, just enough to mellow me out a little, still recognise a good skyscape..hic

Mike

Cheers. I enjoy being out in the elements this type of imaging brings. Saw a couple of meteorites in the process. Better than staring at a computer in the dark!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retrograde

That is superb Greg!

Thanks very much for that compliment.

Greg.

strongmanmike (Michael) · #13 27-08-2016, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Cheers. I enjoy being out in the elements this type of imaging brings.

Greg.

Except when you are standing in long dry grass, on a dark moonless but warm summer night...
Eastern Browns can be active on such nights......

gregbradley · #14 28-08-2016, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Except when you are standing in long dry grass, on a dark moonless but warm summer night...
Eastern Browns can be active on such nights......

Good to know. I went over to the back part of my property on such a night.
I heard something rustling in the wind after I had setup my rig to do a nightscape on a large flat rock. I checked it out and it was a shed brown snake skin. I decided I would find a better location!

Greg.