bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

My last good night for deep sky imaging was in November 2020, yes almost two years ago; nothing but cloud, smoke and haze since...

In the interim I've sold off three of my EQ mounts, a few telescopes and have my observatory up for sale; however, I haven't totally given up on astro-imaging and have been practicing on the sun, moon and planets (as you might have noticed on UHH?). I also just purchased a lighter weight iOptron CEM26 (EQ) mount, so there may be hope yet!?

I've been getting up to speed on the new mount and, with a reasonably clear sky last night, decided to shoot some subs of the Milky Way with a Sony A7R III and Canon 24-105L lens off the new mount; all subs at 105mm, f/4, 30sec., ISO6400.

The first image is a horizontal panorama of three images across the Milky Way from Altair on the left; 3x10x30sec stacks.

The second image is centered on Deneb. Sadr is to the lower left. The North America and Pelican nebulas are top center. Numerous other nebulas in lower left region. 10x30sec. stack.

When I shoot the Milky Way my mind simply shuts down when I consider the number of stars I'm seeing; mind boggling! And dust lanes everywhere!

Enjoy!

bwa

Altair Three Image Panorama. 33% of full size.

(Download)

Deneb Region. 33% of full size.

(Download)

Ballard Loc: Grass Valley, California

Outstanding images if the milking way in the Cygnus region, nice detail and color, looks like that lens works really well.
I just posted some closeup shots of the Crescent Nebula a bit below Sadr.
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-750090-1.html

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

Oh yeah - we are definitely not alone! Very nice images.

Ronsh Loc: Floresville,Tx.

Nice work !! I'm thinking about getting a mount but i have no idea what I'm doing.thinking of the new star adventure GTI or the Benro Polaris. iI have a few shots of the MW. is your camera astro mod. if not how did you get the reds?

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

I'm sure some creature was looking back at me as I shot these pix...

bwa

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

I've had several astro-modded cameras, a Canon 60D, 6D and 7D II, and a Sony A7R, A7S and a mono A6000 as well as a few dedicated astro-cameras. However, the Sony A7 III and A7R III I use the most often are not modded; as noted the A7R III was used for these images.

All cameras, modded or not, pass some light in the Ha spectrum and with several long enough exposures you will see this response. It all depends on how narrow the Red is on the Bayer filter. Sony seems to be quite generous with the width of the Red filter.

I had a SA GTi on order until I was told I probably wouldn't see one until June 2023. I opted for an iOptron CEM26.

bwa

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

The Canon 24-105L lens is one of the best lenses I've ever owned, the reason I kept it when I switched to Sony bodies. One of the few lenses I've used that has minimal 'seagulls' in the corners.

bwa