Milky Way galaxy
Sep 13, 2012 09:21:37 #
wkocken
Loc: McGregor, MN
Here is a downloadable star map that might help you. http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html
go down to the September Northern sky and get the PDF. It is free.
The Milky Way is the blue band you see on the map. This time of the year after it gets dark,it spans the entire sky from Cassiopeia (the "W" or "M")in the NE through Cygnus ( the "Swan") which is more or less overhead and on down to Sagitarius ( the "Teapot") which is in the SW. The most obvious part will be between Cygnus and Sagitarius. ( Actually, every star you see is part of the Milky way, because we're in it. The densest portion is looking towards the middle. )
go down to the September Northern sky and get the PDF. It is free.
The Milky Way is the blue band you see on the map. This time of the year after it gets dark,it spans the entire sky from Cassiopeia (the "W" or "M")in the NE through Cygnus ( the "Swan") which is more or less overhead and on down to Sagitarius ( the "Teapot") which is in the SW. The most obvious part will be between Cygnus and Sagitarius. ( Actually, every star you see is part of the Milky way, because we're in it. The densest portion is looking towards the middle. )
Sep 13, 2012 09:26:11 #
DaveJS
Loc: Philadelphia, PA area
If you have a droid phone or tablet I suggest getting the app called Star Chart. I'm looking through it now and I don't know if you can change the date/time to forecast what you'll see. Maybe if you change the date/time on the device? But the app lets you point the phone at the sky and it labels the stars. I use it to track down the Milky Way when it's not dark enough to fully see.
Sep 13, 2012 10:45:40 #
If you use a wide angle lens you can get away with longer exposures. With a 100mm lens the stars would be short dashes in the sky at 30 seconds...Sometimes I get some a faint glow on the horizion from a city almost 100 miles away which is no problem at all. I've seen great astrophotos taken from Boston Mass. that were fantastic. A little Post processing can eliminate some of the light pollution.
cetw wrote:
I love your shot! How did you get pts instead of trails with the stars. I have gone to Everglades when there saw no moon and the light from Miami still shows up in pictures. You don't see it til you view it, seems dark but not when holding shutter open. Camera picks it all up. Help if you can advise as going to Utah and hoping for some of the shots you are talking about.But really don't know how except what I am reading.
Sep 13, 2012 11:22:32 #
Love that shot of the Northern Lights.... we don't get to see that where we live. I remember seeing it when I was a child, but we don't see it now.
Anyhow, spectacular shot.
Anyhow, spectacular shot.
Sep 13, 2012 11:54:35 #
I too would like to try this - my panosonic Lumix FZ18 has as "Stary Night" mode which I have never explored - as I live in the higher elevation the sky is quite clear when it is cloud-free and the stars just dazzel me.
Harvey
Harvey
Niko65 wrote:
Try this, ISO 400, f4 and 4minutes for exposure. Make sure your in a very dark spot.
Sep 13, 2012 12:02:13 #
Sep 13, 2012 13:47:56 #
Stellarium is good as a planetarium program and you can type in your location, time, etc to fit your needs. Heavens above is good for finding out when certain satellites are visible from your location. Both require longitude and latitude which can easily be deterimined from Google Earth with good accuracy.
Attached is a composite photo of the Milky Way that I took while on vacation in New Mexico.
Attached is a composite photo of the Milky Way that I took while on vacation in New Mexico.
Milky Way
Sep 13, 2012 14:57:52 #
I think 4 minutes would be quite a long unguided photo even on an equatorially aligned motor driven mount..I used to do 3-4 minutes with a guide scope and a guide camera attached to my Meade SCT. Just my opinion, I might be wrong
Niko65 wrote:
Try this, ISO 400, f4 and 4minutes for exposure. Make sure your in a very dark spot.
Sep 13, 2012 16:15:17 #
For those interested in satalites, log on to "spaceweather.com" and log to their sat. viewer. You then put in your zip code and hit go. It will give you a chart, covering several days and listing most anything in view in your area, including the ISS and the XF37.
Sep 13, 2012 16:19:04 #
Sep 13, 2012 16:26:29 #
Thanks Susyseek and dhrazze.. glad you liked the pic.
Susyseek2 wrote:
Love that shot of the Northern Lights.... we don't get to see that where we live. I remember seeing it when I was a child, but we don't see it now.
Anyhow, spectacular shot.
Anyhow, spectacular shot.
Sep 13, 2012 17:07:12 #
My son has an app that allows you to point to the sky and shows you the stars and moon with, labels on them. Really Neat.
You can even point it down to the ground and see what stars are visible if you were standing on the other side of the earth.
You can even point it down to the ground and see what stars are visible if you were standing on the other side of the earth.
Sep 13, 2012 22:29:09 #
HighDesertRose
Loc: Tucson AZ
Thank you - this is what I have been looking for, some values. I have a Nikon D50 with a 70-300 lens in southern AZ - where the milky way is wonderful. I do have a tripod. What I can't figure out is how to set the damn thing for a 4 minute exposure. Anyone?
Sep 13, 2012 22:30:19 #
HighDesertRose
Loc: Tucson AZ
My friend's iPad does that. But - phew - I didn't know you could point it down to the earth and see the opposite celestial skys! Wow! The ap she has is GoSkyWatch. We like it so far. It's FREE.
Sep 14, 2012 00:06:46 #
Ever try Google Sky? Real-Time star locater. Remember when I stayed in a Glacier Park Lodge. Never saw such constellations...Milky way was totally awesome. Only thing that beat it, was when I had the opportunity of the observatory in MN. My Uncle was head-astronomer.
http://www.google.com/sky/
Sorry...wrong one...the one I have is a real-time Google Sky app for my Android phone.
http://www.google.com/sky/
Sorry...wrong one...the one I have is a real-time Google Sky app for my Android phone.
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