How do I iknow when is the best time of night for the milky way

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A_S

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Andrew
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Going to be in a dark sky location in a few weeks time so weather dependant I will go and do some Astro stuff with my MSM.

Despite doing it lots before and using PhotoPills to know when the core will be out this time I will be a bit far north to see it

However as a result I really don’t know how to judge what the best time to be out is - 9pm or 3am etc

Can anyone offer any advice?
 
You aren't really going to be getting a decent view of the core until March/April time really.

Best off shooting Orion in the evening.
 
Cheers - I appreciate I won’t get the core but I if was to shoot the Milky Way how would I find out the best time?

I’ll look into Orion - do I need a telephoto for that?
 
A_S said:
Cheers - I appreciate I won’t get the core but I if was to shoot the Milky Way how would I find out the best time?

I’ll look into Orion - do I need a telephoto for that?
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Well, generally for the 'main core' area you are talking pre-sunrise in spring switching through midnight to post-sunset in autumn. But the Milky way is constantly around us at night, just different parts of it. A wider, landscape shot of Orion will include some Milky Way.

It depends if you want to shoot the Orion nebula or a landscape with Orion in the sky. I tend to shoot 24mm or 35mm full frame for Orion in a landscape - 50mm would be too tight.
 
Cheers both I'll have a look into Orian - do you use one of those star popper filters for that? I see there is a new one from Kase out. Might look into it.

RE Stellarium - any better than photopills for the info it gives ashishtamhane?
 
You can download Stellarium for free to your pc which will help you plan what you will see where and when.. You can get some Milky Way all year but the core won’t be visible yet. In February you’ll get a bit in the very early hours before dawn. The evening portion with Orion and andromeda along side is a lovely section of the sky. Don’t forget you really need a moon free night, or crescent moon or the brightness from the moon will wash out what little MW you have.
 
A_S said:
RE Stellarium - any better than photopills for the info it gives ashishtamhane?
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I am not aware how much Photopills is good for astro photography but Stellarium is used in planetariums too. It can be used for tracking artificial satellites too. It's a astronomy software as opposed to astro photography.
 
alan72 said:
You can download Stellarium for free to your pc which will help you plan what you will see where and when.. You can get some Milky Way all year but the core won’t be visible yet. In February you’ll get a bit in the very early hours before dawn. The evening portion with Orion and andromeda along side is a lovely section of the sky. Don’t forget you really need a moon free night, or crescent moon or the brightness from the moon will wash out what little MW you have.
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Thanks Alan,

Ive done a fair bit of milky way so i know the basics just not the more advanced stuff - so at least that gives me a bit of an indication of when to be out. I'll check Stellarium out on phone or PC over the next 2 weeks
 
A_S said:
Thanks Alan,

Ive done a fair bit of milky way so i know the basics just not the more advanced stuff - so at least that gives me a bit of an indication of when to be out. I'll check Stellarium out on phone or PC over the next 2 weeks
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I find Stellarium much more useful than Photopills.
 
They have different uses for me, PhotoPills and the ephemeris are good for planning in map mode, I find PhotoPills artificial reality view more user friendly than the ephemeris when on location.

Stellarium is good for visualising and shows you the other sky objects beyond just the MW core but had no map function. A combination of the two for me.
 
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