Thanks for the reference and appreciate your time digging it out. Very interesting and useful article that deserves to be bookmarked.

I hear ya. I was all set up to do some imaging last night because 3 of 4 forecasts were good. Guess the 4th one was right and the others wrong. I'd pick somewhere a bit warmer than Wyoming, maybe Arizona or New Mexico. I did see the 2017 Eclipse in Glendo, WY pop 250 that grew to 250,000 the day of the eclipse. If you happen to know of other local spots, please share!

I'm have dark sky envy.

Got here from your comet photo, which is really well done. Thanks for sharing both.

Jay

Hi,

I live in Sarasota and as BassmanBruce says, most of Florida is darn bright. I do go out to the beach, which is pretty dark to the west, southwest and depending on where you are, to the south. I've gone to the fishing piers off the Skyway bridge, best to the northwest, west and southwest and not nearly as sandy as the beach, especially for the equipments sake. If you go here, park in one of the parking areas before you get to the admissions shack. Duette Preserve (about 30 mi east of I75 near Myakka City in far east Manatee County) is also pretty good for views to the northeast, east and southeast. Some of the darkest skies in Florida are about 2.75 hours north of you in Cedar Key with dark skies in every direction. There's also Kissimmee Prairie State Park about 3.5 hours to the southeast of you that have excellent dark skies. Again as BassmanBruce says, Rt 41 crossing the state from Naples heading east at Big Cypress National Preserve is good as well and best for views to the north, north east and south. That about does it for me. Hope this is helpful.

Jay

The image as shown above just doesn't do justice to your capture. It really needs to be downloaded to fully appreciate what you've done. Thanks for sharing.

Jay

Wow! Very impressed and can't wait to see the finished product. Are you doing RGB or narrowband?

Jay

They're all good but the Jellyfish is exceptional. Super nice work. I'm blown away by your "poor-man's observatory" and also so envious. I'd really like to know if you take everything down after an imaging session and if not, what do you do to protect everything?

Thanks,

Jay

There is in fact a "Milky Way Season". Milky Way Season refers to the time of year when the brightest and most photogenic part of our galaxy the Galactic Center is visible in the northern hemisphere. The visibility of this part of the Milky Way is dependent on latitude; those further south and particularly below the equator enjoy the best visibility for longer periods of time. In the northern hemisphere, the "season" is roughly from July until October. If you happen to be familiar with the constellation Sagittarius, you can see the Galactic Center just to the right of Sagittarius. While fainter portions of the Milky Way are more prevalent in the UK, you should be able to see the Galactic Center at it's highest altitude on July 1 at 12:30 am. Even at its greatest altitude, it will still be low in the sky and lined up directly to the south. It's location will shift to the southwest over the next few months and will be best viewed at about 10:30 pm on 8/1, 9:15 pm on 9/1 and 8:00 pm on 10/1 before it slips below the horizon until the next "season". Regardless whether the Galactic Center is visible, the Milky Way is still impressive under dark skies. Stellarium, mentioned in a previous comment is a great tool (and free) to locate the Milky Way, which although much dimmer than the Galactic Center runs through more recognized constellations such as Cassiopeia (shaped like a big W) and Orion. The darker your skies, the better to really get a good look at our galaxy. I hope this is useful.

Wonderful majestic shot for certain. Love it.

I'm in Zermatt in a couple of weeks, and keeping everything I can cross crossed to have a clear view. I'm hoping you would consider providing direction to the area you got that amazing shot.

Jay

Love the capture. I live in Sarasota FL and have never seen one and didn't know they existed until I saw your photo. Thanks for sharing.

Jay

Thanks so much for the encouragement Photogirl17. I do appreciate it very much.

Thank you for your comment, Photogirl 17. It was very much appreciated as that was the first image I've ever posted.

Awwww, I just saw this. Better late then never I guess. "Milky Way"

Please use the download.

Jay

(Download)

How'd you do that?!! Very cool, very interesting and thanks for sharing. #1 and #4 are my top two but #2 almost deadheated #4.

Jay

I have both the 24-70 f2.8 and 24-105 and shoot with a 6D and t7i. The 24 - 70 is by far the sharper of the two lenses, at least for me. You have better reach with the 18 - 135 than either of the others but I don't know the lens at all. I'm assuming the 18 -135 isn't sufficiently sharp and the reason you want to purchase one of the others. Both lenses you're considering are good lenses. I like the sharpness of the 24-70 but you need to balance that against the little extra reach and image stabilization of the 24 - 105. As an aside, while in Africa, the 24 -70 gave out on me to my horror. I was able to find a Tamron 24 - 70 f2.8 that also has IS. I'm super pleased with the Tamron lens and prefer it over either of the Canon's. I never thought I'd say that.