Posted by Joe Rogers on December 17, 2010 at 2:09 PM
I am fasinated by all the wonderful photographs posted of the Milky Way and now that I have a camera capable of making the shot I need some information. Is there any method of determining what the time/sky area coordinates for the Milky Way will be. I live in a rather remote area of North Texas where the light pollution would be low,however, how do you determine the best time of evening, best time of year for a given location?
Joe Rogers
Posted by Paul DeCesare on December 17, 2010 at 4:39 PM
Ha, I had that same question before shooting the images I got two weeks ago. Turns out it's easier than you think:
The one task you need to do is have a look at the Navy's Sunrise/Moonrise chart and make sure the moon won't be rising for at least a couple hours. I shot mine between 7pm (in NE Arizona desert) and 11pm (near Flagstaff), and the moon wasn't rising until about 3am so I knew I'd have a clear sky. A clear forecast is an obviously plus too, lol!
That's it! You won't need a positioning chart (I thought I would) because it comes down to this: if the Milky Way is visible to your naked eye, then you can photograph it. Believe me, if the sky is clear you'll see it, it will be INCREDIBLY bright if you are away from any city which it sounds like you are. For me the MW was in the NW sky, shooting overhead towards the SE. It basically fills the sky, it's beyond awesome to see it.
Exposure: 25-30 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 3200, widest lens you have.
Focus: Infinity didn't work for me on my 16-35mm, by the time the stellar light hits your lens, you're past focus. You want to take a test shot and zoom in on the LCD to check focus. I had my lens set at about 20ft. Shooting 20mm or wider at f2.8 will give you infinity focus when the lens is set around 10-20 ft. Crazy, huh?
Have fun!!
Posted by Dan Borzynski on December 17, 2010 at 6:07 PM
Just to reemphasize a point Paul makes, if the sky is dark enough to shoot, you will recognize the Milky Way. Assuming that the sky has good viewing conditions and your eyes have had 10-15 minutes to adapt, you'll look up and see a large band of stars. Your first thought will be "Is that the Milky Way?". Yep, it is. He is not trying to be cryptic or anything - it really is that easy to find.
It is pretty much a given that you'll never see it in a city.
Posted by John Mumaw on December 17, 2010 at 7:27 PM
The Milky Way is the brightest in July/August, and in February during the winter. After 10PM seems to me to be the best time to photograph it.
Posted by Joe Rogers on December 17, 2010 at 8:10 PM
Many thanks Paul, Dan, and John....I'm off to shoot the stars!
Joe Rogers
Posted by Scott Bean on December 18, 2010 at 12:22 AM
As others have mentioned if the sky is dark you can see the Milky Way, but I also use the free planetarium software "Stellarium" http://www.stellarium.org/ to help plan out shots in advance and check the position of the Milky Way at different times of the year.
Posted by Paul DeCesare on December 18, 2010 at 2:36 AM
Joe, make sure you take test shots and verify focus with the zoom on the LCD. I'm looking through my shots in ACR up close and am seeing soft stars.
For some, the star trails can get to long if exposures are over 20 seconds.
Posted by Paul DeCesare on December 19, 2010 at 2:16 AM
Yeah, that will happen once you start getting above 24mm (talking fullframe 24mm). At 16mm, it's so wide you won't get trails up to 30 seconds. I just got stupid and didn't ensure I was at optimal focus!
Posted by Luis Argerich on December 19, 2010 at 1:28 PM
Many good recommendations so far:
My list:
- Dark skies, no light pollution and no moon (must!)
- Use Stellarium to check the position of the Mway at your location.
- Use a wide angle lens, and don't go beyond 30 seconds if you want to avoid trails.
- You can use a device like the AstroTrac if you want longer exposures
- Your best glass, wide open, 2.8 or faster is recommended
- Highest non-fake ISO on your camera, ISO1600 is common.
- Take several shots (10-20) and then stack them using DeepSkyStacker (it's free) that will reduce noise.
- When processing play a lot with the curves, if you don't have noise you can get a lot of detail out of nothing.
Discussion
9 repliesJoe Rogers
The one task you need to do is have a look at the Navy's Sunrise/Moonrise chart and make sure the moon won't be rising for at least a couple hours. I shot mine between 7pm (in NE Arizona desert) and 11pm (near Flagstaff), and the moon wasn't rising until about 3am so I knew I'd have a clear sky. A clear forecast is an obviously plus too, lol!
That's it! You won't need a positioning chart (I thought I would) because it comes down to this: if the Milky Way is visible to your naked eye, then you can photograph it. Believe me, if the sky is clear you'll see it, it will be INCREDIBLY bright if you are away from any city which it sounds like you are. For me the MW was in the NW sky, shooting overhead towards the SE. It basically fills the sky, it's beyond awesome to see it.
Exposure: 25-30 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 3200, widest lens you have.
Focus: Infinity didn't work for me on my 16-35mm, by the time the stellar light hits your lens, you're past focus. You want to take a test shot and zoom in on the LCD to check focus. I had my lens set at about 20ft. Shooting 20mm or wider at f2.8 will give you infinity focus when the lens is set around 10-20 ft. Crazy, huh?
Have fun!!
It is pretty much a given that you'll never see it in a city.
Joe Rogers
Have some fun out there!
My list:
- Dark skies, no light pollution and no moon (must!)
- Use Stellarium to check the position of the Mway at your location.
- Use a wide angle lens, and don't go beyond 30 seconds if you want to avoid trails.
- You can use a device like the AstroTrac if you want longer exposures
- Your best glass, wide open, 2.8 or faster is recommended
- Highest non-fake ISO on your camera, ISO1600 is common.
- Take several shots (10-20) and then stack them using DeepSkyStacker (it's free) that will reduce noise.
- When processing play a lot with the curves, if you don't have noise you can get a lot of detail out of nothing.
Luis