Milkyway from SPSP

[iceman (Mike)]

Hi all

I did some widefield photography at SPSP, with just the camera on top of the EQ6. Unfortunately a lot of them didn't turn out very good because of:
a) drifting in RA (no guiding)
b) battery on the mount was going flat so was getting more star trails than usual

I borrowed h0ughy's battery on the 2nd night so had less star trails, but just focused on some wider field milkyway shots with the Sigma 17-70.

Here's 2 of the shots that did come out.

1) Milkyway (single shot) about 4 minutes exposure. ISO800, 17mm.
2) Composite shot of tracked on milkyway and tracking off (foreground) both single shots about 3-4 minutes each.

Only processing was levels adjustment in photoshop. Transparency was generally terrible on both nights.

Thanks for looking.

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

very nice especially the second shot

[EzyStyles (Eric)]

whooaaa! excellent mike. very very nice and only 1 x 4minutes. what f ratio is the lense?

[rogerg (Roger)]

Nice shots, the composite is definitely my favourite, having the Obsession in the FOV definitely helps

Pretty good colour in the Milky Way for an un-modded camera.

[montewilson (Monte)]

I wasn't there. My wife was having a baby that week so there was no way I was going to get a leave pass. Anyway that image makes me feel like I was there. I will ask Lachlan if he can get a larger copy of it from you. With your permission I think it would make a wonderful shot to use in the future with respect to the SPSP.

[Ric]

wonderful shots Mike, the image with the telescopes in the foreground is a beauty.

Cheers

[Tamtarn]

Great shots Mike, and your certainly have a way of framing your objects.

[DeanoNZL (Adrian)]

Wow

[Dr Nick (Nick)]

Very nice indeed!

[beren]

crikey fantastic images well done

[acropolite (Phil)]

Nice shots Mike, I like the second one best.

[Rigel003 (Graeme)]

Great shots, Mike. Were these done with the lens wide open at 17mm? I'm quite interested in this lens. Does it have any tendency to change focus when pointing up?

[sheeny (Al)]

Good stuff Mike! I had a look at these at work today, but my monitor at work just doesn't do astro images justice!

Al.

[leon]

Mike, very impressive, i love the second one, the red lights really stand out.

Leon

[2020BC (Bill Christie)]

Very artistic. The star party one is surreal.

[iceman (Mike)]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your comments. I deleted a lot of images from that weekend so i'm glad to know the ones I kept are good

Graeme, yes it was wide open at 17mm. The f/stop was set to f3.5.

I've processed it a few different ways this morning - i'd appreciate your feedback. I'll start a new thread.

[FOOTPRINT]

Hi Mike,
Spectacular, a nice Aesthetic look about them.


cheers....Jim