The Milky Way with Jupiter

[redstone]

F4.5
55 sec exposure
18mm
ISO 1600

Shot in raw.

Milky Way around Sagittarius with Jupiter.
Nikon D40, kit lens

[greenieadi]

Are you using tracking mount or stacking or simply tripod mount at 55 sec exposure?

Looks nice.

[log1t3ch]

wow looks very good!
where did u take this at? looks like a very clear night sky!

[ssping83]

would like to seek some clarification with the subject.. ha.. coz i think "milky way" in the subject sounded kinda wrong..

reason: with the earth located WITHIN the milky way.. how is it possible to take a picture of it?

astro-photography never fails to wow me though..

[Churchwolf]

Originally Posted by ssping83 would like to seek some clarification with the subject.. ha.. coz i think "milky way" in the subject sounded kinda wrong.. reason: with the earth located WITHIN the milky way.. how is it possible to take a picture of it? astro-photography never fails to wow me though..

Nice pic! Really beautiful.

We are, as you say, in the Milky Way, however our solar system is actually located one of the outer arms of the galaxy. The white band that you see in the sky is your view accross the arms of the galaxy situated around you. This explains why there are more stars of the Milky Way visible in the southern hemisphere because of the tilt of earths axis. The southern hemispere looks out over the middle of the milky way, whereas the northern hemisphere looks out at the remaining outer stars and into deep space.

Man it's a big place out there!

[ssping83]

i see.. thanks for the clarification..

time to read up more.. lol~

[redstone]

Originally Posted by greenieadi Are you using tracking mount or stacking or simply tripod mount at 55 sec exposure? Looks nice.

Thanks!

I used a normal tripod, on 55 secs exposure. There's already some star trails if seen close up. No choice but to up ISO to 1600, which caused lots of noise.

Originally Posted by log1t3ch wow looks very good! where did u take this at? looks like a very clear night sky!

It's taken from the jetty at Paya Beach, Tioman.

[redstone]

Btw anyone knows the method of doing stacking?

[knpan]

if u can go 55secs and no blur, means u are on tripod, dont go to iso 1600. what for? Totally destroy pics to me

[Legoz]

No iso 1600 would most prob mean a 500sec exposure. it would def spoil the pic..and introduce possibility of shake..
Its a compromise. =>

[imouyang]

Originally Posted by redstone Btw anyone knows the method of doing stacking?

You mean image composite? If so, layers with either Screen or Lighten mode in PS...

[redstone]

Originally Posted by knpan if u can go 55secs and no blur, means u are on tripod, dont go to iso 1600. what for? Totally destroy pics to me

If I set ISO at the next lowest level my camera has, ISO 800 it'll be too dark. Shutter speed any slower there would be star trails.

[leews2001]

Originally Posted by ssping83 would like to seek some clarification with the subject.. ha.. coz i think "milky way" in the subject sounded kinda wrong.. reason: with the earth located WITHIN the milky way.. how is it possible to take a picture of it? astro-photography never fails to wow me though..

it is our home, the milkyway. for example, u are in a garden. where u point and shoot, 50 % chance u are taking a pic of the garden.

[lsisaxon]

Originally Posted by redstone Btw anyone knows the method of doing stacking?

Search for astrostack. http://www.google.com/search?q=astrostack

[weixing]

Hi,
Nice shot... Now is the best time to shoot wide field astrophotograph... the summer Milky Way is very beautiful.

Quote: Btw anyone knows the method of doing stacking?

You can the following free software:
1) DeepSky Stacker: http://deepskystacker.free.fr/english/index.html
2) IRIS: http://www.astrosurf.org/buil/us/iris/iris.htm

Anyway, stacking of wide angle images taken on untracking mount (simple tripod) will not be good due to the distortion of the wide angle lens... the relative distance between stars at the outer portion of the lens will be different as the star drift. As a result, you'll not be able to aligned all the stars not in the center portion of the image... how bad is it depend on how much distortion your lens had.

Have a nice day.

[redstone]

Originally Posted by weixing Hi, Nice shot... Now is the best time to shoot wide field astrophotograph... the summer Milky Way is very beautiful. You can the following free software: 1) DeepSky Stacker: http://deepskystacker.free.fr/english/index.html 2) IRIS: http://www.astrosurf.org/buil/us/iris/iris.htm Anyway, stacking of wide angle images taken on untracking mount (simple tripod) will not be good due to the distortion of the wide angle lens... the relative distance between stars at the outer portion of the lens will be different as the star drift. As a result, you'll not be able to aligned all the stars not in the center portion of the image... how bad is it depend on how much distortion your lens had. Have a nice day.

Thanks for the reply.

One question though, is it possible to shoot in lower ISO (lower noise), and ending up with a dimmer image, and then saving it in raw?

[hermes129]

Hi redstone,

A very nice and interesting image you have there. Sure got me interested in astrophotography.

Cheers,

[weixing]

Hi,

Originally Posted by redstone Thanks for the reply. One question though, is it possible to shoot in lower ISO (lower noise), and ending up with a dimmer image, and then saving it in raw?

Most astrophoto is best to shoot in RAW to get the most out of it when doing post processing. ISO is not very important in astrophotography if you shoot in RAW because ISO does not actually change the camera sensor sensitivity, but just change the gain of the amplifier... if the camera sensor didn't detect it, it won't be there no matter how much you amplify it. But selection of ISO is not a straight forward case and depend on what's your target and the performance of your camera. As a result, you need to understanding your camera performance at various ISO and exposure time. Find the best ISO setting which give you the best noise performance, dynamic range and etc for your camera as a base ISO and adjust accordingly base on your target. Also, post noise reduction processing is a must for astrophotography and can give good result if do properly even in high ISO.

Since you use a Nikon DSLR, you can't use too low ISO for astrophotography even you shoot in RAW due to the way Nikon DSLR handle the RAW file. I think ISO800 might be a good choice for your case.

Happy shooting and have a nice day.

[Zeddy]

Nice pic!

[redstone]

Originally Posted by weixing Hi, Most astrophoto is best to shoot in RAW to get the most out of it when doing post processing. ISO is not very important in astrophotography if you shoot in RAW because ISO does not actually change the camera sensor sensitivity, but just change the gain of the amplifier... if the camera sensor didn't detect it, it won't be there no matter how much you amplify it. But selection of ISO is not a straight forward case and depend on what's your target and the performance of your camera. As a result, you need to understanding your camera performance at various ISO and exposure time. Find the best ISO setting which give you the best noise performance, dynamic range and etc for your camera as a base ISO and adjust accordingly base on your target. Also, post noise reduction processing is a must for astrophotography and can give good result if do properly even in high ISO. Since you use a Nikon DSLR, you can't use too low ISO for astrophotography even you shoot in RAW due to the way Nikon DSLR handle the RAW file. I think ISO800 might be a good choice for your case. Happy shooting and have a nice day.

Thanks for the advice.
How do you focus?

Many of my pics are out of focus. At first i tried to focus on Jupiter, or the lights of the boats in the distance. Then I tried MF, and AF. Some of my shots, especially the one around Cygnus (darker part of milky way) came out all out of focus.