The center

Posted on Januar 9th, 2015

This is not a shopping center, this is the center of our galaxy.
It looks like they are having a great party there, the biggest light show in the neighbourhood. And the mankind is still waiting to be a part of the interstellar party people. Hey engineers work harder, I want to see it from near
Until we have useable engines, we have to use our cameras to take photos of the stunning space fireworks.

Incredibly lot of stars

Posted on Juni 28th, 2014

This is in fact only a testshot, to see whether you can see the Milky Way. Oh yeah! You can!
I took this shot in the middle of autumn and also in an area with a lot of light pollution. But anyway you can see the Milky Way very clear. What me fascinated on this picture is, how incredibly many stars you can see, because of the extrem long exposure time.
I made this image with an astronomical mounting, called Astrotrac. This allowed me to take an exposure time of 240 seconds. And I took 11 shots which makes a total of 2640 seconds or 44 minutes exposure time. With 16mm focal lenght at f/2.8 and 1600 ISO on a Canon 5DmkII.
Please watch this Image in full resolution and zoom in – it’s crazy how many stars you’ll see!

Looking for the Milky Way – Part 3

Posted on Juni 19th, 2014

Today on the third part will come to the final end with the starscape image. on the first part I showed you the requirements for the best sight and on the second part I wrote about hiking up to the destination.

The work begins

As everything looked great I quickly went back inside toput on warm clothes, because outside was a nasty, cold wind. Bubu the little rascal was quite restless, as he was the whole evening. I think in the restaurant it was just too loud for him and he could not lie down to sleep.
But now we went out and walked the short path to the lookout hill next to the building. Backpack on the bench, Bubu bound to the bank with the 10m leash, and off you go.
Build tripod, put camera on it, and take a test shot at 6400 ISO with 30 seconds exposure time, to see what there is to see.

Wow, there it was, our galaxy, the Milky Way. It was still a little far in the east, but in the end, it should be directly above the Säntis at 2 o’clock. Right now, it could not be seen very bright because of light pollution in the region of Lake Constance. But we still have plenty of time.
Camera back down and mount the tracking device for the real shots. Bubu is still whining. So, camera back on and off you go with a long time recording over 120 seconds.

Unexpected events

While waiting, I noticed that my little furry friend still whines and shivers. What is his problem? Also caressing and cajolingdid not help. If he continues this way, it’s going to be a problem.
Wow, cool, I see it, the Milky Way. Still a little far to the left in the light pollution, but really good to see. And yet another shot, this time for the foreground without tracking. And Bubu is still unhappy. I start realising that this dog isn’t really suited for mountain trips.
But I’d like to have at least one more nice picture. So I change the lens and mount the Samyang 14mm on the camera.. Now another 3 pictures of about 3 minutes. Slowly Istart worrying about my little friend.

He’s still whining, so we start packing our stuff quickly and head for our two-hour return trip. Aaaand behold, as soon as we are walking on, everything seems to be absolutely OK for this little stinker! I think this little rascal had just been bored.
After two hours we were back at the car. Thanks to my good hiking shoes my feet kept dry, but Stefan has gotten a big load of water and dirt inside as he stepped into a mud hole.

Conclusion

Nearly everything was correct, the weather was exactly as it should be, even at the right time. The viewing angle was also perfectly chosen. Were it not for someone who didn’t like the whole thing. Well, next time might probably stay at home. For sure!

So I wasn’t able to get as many pictures as I wanted, and the ones I’ve got are not as perfect as they could have been an hour later, but … just look at the results. No more words needed…

Ah yes, my furry monster spent the next 24 hours sleeping, except for a really short walk he didn’t want to do anything else

Looking for the Milky Way -Part 1
Looking for the Milky Way -Part 2
Looking for the Milky Way -Part 3

 

A starry night

Posted on Mai 17th, 2014

It was one of my first try to catch the Milkyway. First I waited for a night without moon and second I waited with a night without moon and no clouds. And for better seeing conditions I was driving on a place in the alps where I have a good sight without too much light pollution.
I choose my favorite Waegital and this was my first visit there. I was starting at home about 8 o’clock in the evening and reached this point at 10pm. Took some images and left it short before midnight.
I never saw the milkyway so clearly and for central Europe it is really impressive how good I could see it.
Now I’m waiting for the next moonless night without clouds to take more of these awesome Milkyway shots.