How I go the photo - Owens Valley Radio Telescope Milky Way

[KenElevenShadows]

I get asked how I got this photo all the time.How I go the photo - Owens Valley Radio Telescope Milky Way...my latest article on Photofocus.

 

[KuruPrionz]

Great photo and a great story!

[KenElevenShadows]

Thanks, glad you liked it!

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

I REALLY need to try one of those stacking programs.... Probably Sequator, since I have windows.

 

I assume this pretty much only works in really dark skies? Even with no moon, we don't see the Milky Way here at all. Maybe if I drive an hour west, or so. I don't think I've even seen the Milky way since I was in Colorado and that was a bunch of years ago.

[KuruPrionz]

I REALLY need to try one of those stacking programs.... Probably Sequator, since I have windows.

 

I assume this pretty much only works in really dark skies? Even with no moon, we don't see the Milky Way here at all. Maybe if I drive an hour west, or so. I don't think I've even seen the Milky way since I was in Colorado and that was a bunch of years ago.

 

It is a matter of eliminating ambient light. A lens with a hood may very well "see" the Milky Way even though your eyes cannot.

[KenElevenShadows]

I REALLY need to try one of those stacking programs.... Probably Sequator, since I have windows.

 

I assume this pretty much only works in really dark skies? Even with no moon, we don't see the Milky Way here at all. Maybe if I drive an hour west, or so. I don't think I've even seen the Milky way since I was in Colorado and that was a bunch of years ago.

 

It works with somewhat dark skies. You don't necessarily need to see the Milky Way (or it can be really faint). I've done it with starry night skies with some light pollution and a bit of the moon out before and it tracks it, although you may need to help it along by identifying the stars in the sky sometimes.

 

But if the stars are visible in your image, it has the ability to "latch" on to it and track stars on multiple images, align 'em and stack 'em.

[KenElevenShadows]

I REALLY need to try one of those stacking programs.... Probably Sequator, since I have windows.

 

I assume this pretty much only works in really dark skies? Even with no moon, we don't see the Milky Way here at all. Maybe if I drive an hour west, or so. I don't think I've even seen the Milky way since I was in Colorado and that was a bunch of years ago.

 

It is a matter of eliminating ambient light. A lens with a hood may very well "see" the Milky Way even though your eyes cannot.

 

Or you might need to have your eyes adjust for ten or more minutes.

 

But a camera set at high ISO will be able to see a lot more than you can with your eyes, and you might be surprised at how many stars are in the night sky. I often set my camera for something like ISO 4000 for 20 seconds at f/2.8 or f/2.5. And at that point, your image will pick up quite a bit more than what your eyes can see.