1st Milky Way attempt

mikeyw

mikeyw

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Hi Guys,

I've been waiting for a clear moonless night for a while to try and capture the Milky Way, so headed out last night around 10pm. Sadly i live on the edge of town so some light pollution at play.

What i found hardest is trying to nail focus, everyone is slightly off but then again my 25s exposure may actually be causing the issue with some motion blur.

Any advice to help me improve ? processed in lightroom remove orange glow and adjust levels / contrast etc.



I think i need to find a darker location a head out a bit later

D7100
Tokina 11-16
F2.8
25s at 12mm
iso 3200

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Took several straight up but think i prefer having some reference in like the trees.

Mike.
 
Hi Mike,
A good first attempt. As you said it's better to get some foreground interest. Can't see much detail in the Milky Way but this could be down to LP. Are you facing north or south as there is more detail in the South. As for going out later astronomical twilight ends roughly two hours after sunset so it won't much darker later on. I can't tell about the trailing (on iPad) but using too crop 400 rule you should be good upto 33 secs at 12mm. Is the Milky Way clearly visible with the naked eye, if not then you need to move further out of town. Have a go at the space station pass over tonight :)
 
Thanks Martin - that looks like Pleiades bottom centre so should give a good marker on direction - i made it roughly NE. South view is terrible where i live as i'm northern side of Town and the glow of Leeds is south of me

Might head for a darker location tonight and try again (y)

What do people do for focussing ? - i just tried a few different shots around the infinity marker on the lens.
 
Yes I thought it was north and Pleiades but the image is small on the iPad. As for focus don't use infinity as it is never the sharpest. Use live view and zoom right in on a bright star and focus manually on this until it is a sharp pinpoint. Also are using using a cable release and MuP mode?
 
I'm using remote release, Mup ? - mirror up ? if so no, does this help ?

Will try live view but obviously just darkness at 1st so i'll try zooming in....
 
Definitely find a darker area and take the Milky Way whilst you are looking south (ish)...it is much brighter and more distinct as you will be looking into the centre of the galaxy and not towards the outer edge!
 
Focus is difficult as just setting the focus ring hard against the stop doesn't do it. If you have a light as many miles away as you can find, autofocus on that then lock it (switch to manual) that should do it. Liveview might work if you're not long sighted like me. Yes it's the Pleiades so you were looking NE. On the plus side you have a few star clusters and at least one maybe two (the image is too small to be sure) galaxies there.
 
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