Basic Astro Stuff

I am in Red Lodge MT tonight and Sunday night. Other than at 11k feet elevation on the top of Beartooth..... the wind was blowing and the ambient temp was 40f and for the Florida boy that is frostbite temps.....

Tried to do some pics of the Milky way last night. In short, even the 10 second exposure showed signs of movement of the planet (stars) on my 24mm Art (shooting at f2 hoping to minimize the aberrations in the corners - didn't work).

I do have Sky Adventurer 2i 'in the box' and had promised myself I would take it out and try some pics with it.

Have taken it out and assembled it once, but have never put it to use.

Not sure if I have the clothing to stand in 40f and set up the rig.

Might try it with my full spectrum 5d3 and the 70/200. Thoughts/helpful hints? Will have a couple of nights in the Badlands as well to improve on the effort.

Mike

Learned several things last night.

1st get really good at finding the north star, the cell phone apps I have where poor, not comically bad.
2nd get the alignment right, I don't think I did. I was able to find the North Star... I think.... aligned it as best I could, pretty darn close.
3rd No what you want to take a picture off. So many targets so little time.

My pic of the north star was fine, as I departed from the axis, the stars 'slide'

Suggestions and hints are welcome.

Mike

Haven't watched it, but B&H's YouTube has an Astrophotography in Iceland video from just 3 days ago.
(Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/BHPhoto...roAudio/videos , video: Astrophotography in Iceland: Research, Composition, Settings & More)

Watched the video... he's just shooting on a tripod w/ no tracking... and basic advise like "avoid light pollution", and "beware of people with head lamps". Sigh. I expected better B&H.

They did mention some app that lets you see where things will be in the night sky, so you can pre-plan your shots.

As you never did get a good reply, this has links to a pile of related resources.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42385761

Thanks. Off tomorrow to Australia and New Zealand for 4 weeks. No tracking stuff but plan to get some long exposure stuff.

Will be looking to 'up the game' when I get back.

Couple things that could help you out. Rule of 500. Don't be afraid to stack your images if you have to shoot shorter exposures. Don't be afraid to bump your ISO as noiseware is really good on night shots. For finding the North Star, find the Big Dipper. The bottom of the two stars of the ladle point directly at the North Star. Trying to remember, but I think it is two fists distance. If you are shooting shorter exposures and wider focal lengths, just getting it in the area of the North Star is usually good enough. Longer exposures and focal lengths it really makes a difference, so depends on how your shooting.

Don't be afraid to make star trails. Sometimes those are more fun,. You can just set your camera to take multiple exposures over time and combine them in starstax. The size wider you shoot, the longer your going to have to let it run.