ggttc Loc: TN

My wife and I are going to clingmans dome in TN to try and catch the Milky way....my question is there anyway to determine when it will rise

Charts, graphs apps???

Lat 35.60
Long-83.45

Thanks in advance

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

If you have a smart phone (Or, in my case, it's a smarter than me phone), you can find apps to help you plan and find your sky watching targets and times of arrival.
For me, in August, the Milky way didn't "rise" it more appeared from Southward, to Northward.
I say "ward" because my dumb smart phone had no signal at all.
So it was basically a lump of coal. :roll: :lol:
I kind of felt like I was in a bucket, looking up at the handle, and it magically moved from the Westward, to the Eastward side of the sky.
Small walk-rounds can give you amazing composition opportunities.
Try and recall a little foreground, and a lot of sky. (The Rule of Thirds. I kind of like the rule of a smidgen of Terra-Firma and a lotsa sky)
And you might even like to try an Intervalometer running your camera with a wide angle lens (or as wide as you have) and see what you missed that the camera caught. Intervalometers are great for star-work. And really inexpensive for what they can give you.

Let's see...
1. Camera
2. Tripod
3. Wide angle lens
4. Intervalometer (Often built into Canon)
5. Biggest, fastest card for your camera within manufacture specs. Maybe two cards.
6. Extra batteries, and a way to recharge them.
7. Red LED headlamps, for stumbling around in the dark.
8. Warm clothes.
9. Warm beverage.
10. A BIG smile! And lawn chairs that lay way back/horizontal.

A New Moon is favorable, as are clear skies. But clouds can add interest.

If interested, here is a Time-Lapse of the Milky Way, and the Perseid meteors I never saw. I was checking my eyelids for leaks, and sawing firewood in my tent.
http://youtu.be/O5hf0szmKVE

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Currently the Milky Way bridge is visible as soon as the Sun sets and twilight begins according to Stellarium.
This is a free program that lets you select the location you are at and you can advance through the time to see where things will be. For my location at 35 degrees latitude, the bridge is already past the Southern Cardinal and heading West. The bridge runs North to South.
I hope this helps?

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

What Sonny and Jim said is all good info. We are assuming you have a wide angle 18mm? and the info of shutter speed, ISO and f/stop???
Craig

ggttc Loc: TN

Yes I do have stellarium....my question would be how do I set ip up to look for the Milky Way...two steps below amateur here....

ggttc Loc: TN

I have a d7100 and a kit 18-55...my wife has a d810 and a 24-140 VR11

( yeah she has the really good stuff perfoms very well at high ISO)

We mainly shoot BIF so this is a whole different world for us....any input would be appreciated

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

I assume you mean it up.
Launch the program and go to the left side and open the date modifier. Set the date you plan to go and set the time for something close to sunset. As you scroll the hour tab on the date bar the program will change to show what is available. I do this when I want to see where the ISS is going to transit the sky. The milky way is the band of stars that runs North to South and will move East to West as you advance the time.

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-237557-1.html

This is a session that I shot at the VLA in Southern New Mexico. My settings are above the photos. and the bridge shot is a stitched panorama of 4 shots.

Best of luck to you.
;)
Jim

ggttc Loc: TN

Thanks for you advice...found it on sterlarium..looks about just after sunset

very nice photos

any advice on settings?

Plan on shooting 20 sec to 30...and opening the aperture wideout...

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

Of course the D810 will get you better high ISO shots but I'll tell you the D7100 also has good performance at the midrange ISOs.
I took some really nice Milky Way shots with my old D5300 at ISO 800.
But here is one I took at to high of an ISO 6400 and to short of exposure 10 sec. ISO of 800 and exposure of 25 sec would have been much better. And an F/3.2 instead of f/2.8

How Not To Photograph the Milky Way

(Download)

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

I am attaching an image produced with a SW package called StarryNightPro in which I have identified some stars and a constellation. The Milky Way actually stretches across the entire sky. When you are in a dark spot, you can easily see it.

But with a wide angle lens, a couple test shots will certainly find it.

In the attached picture, you can face North and see the thick part of the Milky Way to the SouthWest and going completely across the sky to the NorthEast. It is still visible this time of year, but is moving farther west each night. This time of year, you want to capture it as soon as the sky is dark as it will rotate out of view as the night progresses.

Just keep in mind that it is BIG.

I am also including a 4 minute image I took using a tracker made by iOpton as an example. This was done with a Tamron 24-70 f2.8 lens at 24mm on a Sony A99. The bright star is Altair.

StarryNight Pro image of the sky with the MilkyWay

(Download)

MilkyWay image I took about 1 month ago

(Download)

YKnot Loc: N Florida

Try the free app Sky Guide". It will show you the sky from wherever you are, day or night, even if you cannot see it. You can plug in Lat/Lon to view form that spot.You can plug in dates as well. Enjoy.

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

The biggest problem with astro shots is focus. It is absolutely critical. Unless the moon is up, there is nothing to AF on, and if it *is* up, you won't see the Milky Way. Don't rely on using the infinity stop on your lens (my best w/a doesn't even have one!), since most lenses - especially zooms - will focus *past* infinity. I have literally had several nights of shooting wasted, because what looked in focus even using magnified live view, turned out not to be once viewed on a computer monitor.

Good luck, and have fun!

Jay Pat Loc: Round Rock, Texas, USA

I'm following this post/subject with great interest.
I hope someone will offer "focus" techniques that can be used.
Pat

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

With some cameras. focusing on stars is a real challenge.

I am using Sony. What you see on the LCD or EVF is what you are going to get. If you increase ISO, the star images get brighter too. This is a real advantage. Oftentimes, I can see stars to focus on that aren't even visible to the naked eye. For instance last week, shooting the Double Cluster, I was actually able to see it on the LCD and to hit focus magnifier twice to blow it up to 12 or 13X (I don't remember exactly what power it is), and to critically focus on those stars. And I tend to go for the dimmest star I can see on the LCD and to very carefully rock the focus back and forth several times. The dim star will go away, then come back and go away again. So I carefully, very carefully gently turn the focus ring ever so slightly until that dim star is at its very brightest.

With brighter stars, you focus for smallest diameter. And with dim stars, you focus for max brightness.

Be aware also that not all lenses are easy to manually focus. I have several that are an absolute dream to focus. And then there are others that the focus is just too touchy. My favorites are the Tamron 24-70 f2.8 and Tamron 70-200 f2.8. Also a Minolta 100mm f2.8 (the macro lenses are made for manual focusing, and the focus ring is geared down so that you have to turn it more farther for focus), and a Tokina 300mm f2.8. All of these lenses have such smooth, easy focusing.

And I am getting better results from the Tamron 24-70 at 24mm than I am from a prime 20mm f2.8 Minolta lens. The Minolta is showing too much coma distortion in the edges. Same with my 50mm f1.7 Minolta which also shows too much coma distortion. Both these lenses are great for all other stuff. But for stars, they are fussy about what works good.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Wouldn't it be nice to have a dual speed focuser for your camera, like the Crayford does?
Then fine focusing could be easier.

(Crayford's come with lower ratio knobs. Mine is an 11-1. I've seen other, like 10-1.)

I'm thinking a worm gear fine focuser here. :twisted:
(Caution: Smoke is coming out my ears again...) :idea:

Crayford: (From the Orion site)
http://s7d5.scene7.com/is/image/Orion/340x340_template?$340x340$&$prod=is{Orion//13032?scl-=}

Are you listening Sony A7s developers?
You could call it the A7s Perfect!
I'll volunteer to be a beta tester.... :twisted: