Milkyway 2nd attempt

ourkind (Carlos) · #1 24-08-2012, 02:17 AM

Hi

this was another of my initial attempts at photographing and stacking our Milkway (or part of). As I can not stop the earth from spinning, by the time I started taking these images the lower left edge was beggining to drop from the zenith and light pollution started to affect the lower half.

This is comprised of 16x30sec exposures 1250iso in DSS and some tweaking in photoshop. Camera Canon 60D

Thanks for looking

CapturingTheNight (Greg) · #2 24-08-2012, 05:38 AM

Nice one

What is the focal length you are running at? By the looks of the field, I am guessing it's 18mm. With that focal length and camera your maximum shutter speed should be about 20 seconds according to the 600 Rule of fixed tripod astrophotography (600 divided by the TRUE focal length of the lens(need to multiply by any crop factor)= max shutter speed before stars begin to move too much) For even tighter stars I would use 500 instead of 600.
Of course this is going to limit the detail you will be getting in each sub but I also own a 60D and know from personal experience that it can easily hit higher ISO's without too much more noise. Because you are also stacking the frames any noise gets reduced anyway. So next time I would suggest a shutter speed around 15-20 seconds and ISO 3200 and you should get much better data to play with and the stars should be a lot tighter.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Greg

ourkind (Carlos) · #3 24-08-2012, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by obsidianphotos

Nice one

What is the focal length you are running at? By the looks of the field, I am guessing it's 18mm...

Hope this helps.
Cheers
Greg

You hit the nail on the head!

Thanks so much for your tips and advice, I am sure it will help! I'll be taking it all onboard and giving it a go on the next clear night

Ahh so lucky to live in the dark skies of the Riverina! A short drive and you're in complete darkness right? My wife left the country and married a City Slicker (me) and there's no way I can drag her back except to visit her family. Bright lights and Diamonds is all she cares about (slight exageration

)