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Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2023 1:18 am
by barretosmed
The horizon of the Atacama desert

BEST DETAILS
https://www.astrobin.com/full/r9g9kl/0/


EQUIPMENT:
Canon 6D
Canon 24mm 1.4 Lens
Mount smarteq pro


FRAME 1X59" @ ISO3200 F4

LOCATION: San Pedro de Atacama - Chile
DATE 04/16/2023

Author: Fernando Oliveira de Menezes
Email: Barretosmed@hotmail.com
Click to view full size image

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2023 3:53 am
by Richardwhitehead
The Lion Nebula
Sh2-132 is an interesting nebula, part of the Sharpless catalog, primarily a star formation area with several massive hot blue stars ionizing the gasses in this formation .
There are also two Wolf-Rayet stars identified within the nebula, these are supermassive highly energetic stars with very powerful stellar wind.
The Lion Nebula is about 10,000 light years distant, and is a faint object compared to many nebulae requiring some long exposures to bring out the detail.
I shot this image a few days ago in Vermont on a rare clear night.
This is an SHO image using 3nm ( very narrow ) filters for Sulphur (red), Hydrogen ( green) and Oxygen ( blue) so this gives us some idea of what's going on in this nebula.
Do you think it looks like a Lion ?
Tech stuff:
Telescope Takahashi FSQ 106 ED4
Mount A-P 1100 GTO AE
QHY 600 camera and QHY Filter wheel
Chroma 3nm Filters
Nitecrawler Focuser
Eagle 4 Pro computer
Ha 14 x15 min, OIII 8 x 15 min, SII 10 x 15 min
Location : Hinesburg , VT, USA
Processed solely in Pixinsight
Lionnebula091023sig.jpg

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2023 9:44 am
by Emmanuel Rasquero
Hello!

This is Milky Way (and M31), captured in France, Aveyron, on the 11th August, 2023.
Very nice weather and a beautiful sky at night, even if some gradient remains at the bottom left and right.

I do astrophot since one year by now, and I recently discover starless background to work with. Hope you will enjoy this pic!

Technical stuff :

- Total of 480sec stacking, with 15 sec. each picture, taken at iso 4000
- Nikon D610 with 17-35mm Nikkor F1:2.8 ED (17mm at 2.8 aperture here)
- Using Siril to stack an adjust
- Using StarNet to work with starless background
- Gimp to reassemble both starless and original stacked result, adjusting opacity and some other parameter

Web picture here :
Milky Way and M31
Copyright: E.Rasquero
Image
Regards,

E. Rasquero

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2023 5:10 pm
by PierandreaFolle
My Comet Chaser

We spent the night waiting to see the comet C 2023 P1 Nishimura. Having some fun lookin Orion for the first time after spring and summer.
The comet rises from the horizon just before the sunrise so I take this picture. For the comet it's a stacking of 120 images at 550mm took with my Nikon Z6IIa on a Tamron 150-600mm G2. All the gear mounted on astrotracker. Obviously the comet and the girl were in the real position.
Hope you lke! It was very amazing for us.

Camera: Nikon Z6IIa
Lens: Tamron 150-600mm G2
Sky: 120x5s f/8 ISO 16000 @550mm
Foreground: 1s f/5.6 ISO 500

Copyright: Folle Pierandrea
CometChaser.jpg

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2023 6:53 am
by Naztronomy
ISS Transits the Hydrogen Alpha Sun
https://www.Naztronomy.com
Copyright: Nazmus Nasir
ISS_Sun_Composite.jpg
Higher resolution image here: https://www.naztronomy.com/images/portf ... posite.jpg

Taken on August 6, 2023,this is a composite of all the frames in which the International Space Station transits the Sun as seen through a small hydrogen alpha solar telescope. The total transit time was ~2.5 seconds and the ISS appears in 36 frames. The video recorded at an average of 14 frames per second.

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2023 9:19 am
by Joel17
Here is an autoportrait of me trying to hold the comet C/2023 P1 "Nishimura".
On the right side of the picture, you might recognize the bright Venus and the Beehive Cluster a little above.

ImageVenus, Nishimura and the stars by Joel Klinger, sur Flickr

Date: 07th September 2023
Location: Chemillé-sur-Indrois, France


Nikon D610 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 + Kingjoy P051
214 shots at 6s, f/2, ISO1000 (my silhouette is taken from one of these shots)
Edit Siril + Photoshop
No composite | No AI

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2023 9:27 am
by Luca Fornaciari
Little Dumbbell Nebula

Approximately 2500 light-years from our planet, a dying star disperses a shell of gas around itself, creating a nebula with a distinctive double-lobe structure.

M76 is one of the few planetary nebulae listed in the Messier catalog and is located in the Perseus constellation. Its modest apparent size and not very high magnitude, although concentrated, do not make it a particularly bright and easy-to-observe cosmic object.

Also known by various imaginative names, from Cork Nebula to Barbell Nebula, the Little Dumbbell Nebula does not exceed 3 arcminutes in its brightest central part, while traces of the older and more diffuse outer zones can still be captured through astrophotography.

In fact, it's easy to see much more than what you notice in this photograph. This image was created over three nights, one for H-Alpha emission, one for oxygen (OIII), and a third for R, G, and B captures. Therefore, the result can be easily improved from here, with the same sky and equipment, by simply integrating more data and adding many hours of luminance, which are completely missing here.

It was supposed to be just a "first round" for the new setup equipped with Player One instruments, especially testing the newly installed motorized wheel. However, from a simple test, I became passionate about the amount of information I was obtaining about this small cosmic object.

I want to return to photograph it soon, perhaps by adding to this initial result. In fact, this is an object that will be moderately higher in the night sky in about a month or so, so there will be plenty of opportunities to integrate data already this year.

From 9 to 12 september 2023
Sky-Watcher 300/1200 su EQ8
Player One Poseidon-M Pro and Phoenix Filter Wheel
42x600'' Ha 3nm, 45x600'' Oiii 3nm, 40+40+40x180'' R, G, B.

Developed with PixInsight and Photoshop 2023
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lucafornaciariphotography
IG : luca_fornaciari_photography
Website: www.lucafornaciarifotografia.com

Luca Fornaciari

Jupiter - GRS on September 10th.

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2023 5:25 pm
by Efrain Morales
Jupiter - GRS on September 10th. ( LX200ACF 305mm OTA, CGE Mount, ASI290mm Cmos, PowerMate 2.5x Barlows, CFW8, Astronomik RGB filter set.)

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2023 6:11 pm
by paumontplet
ImageA Cosmic Bubble. The Bubble Nebula, NGC7635 (normal color) by Pau Montplet Sanz, on Flickr
ImageA Cosmic Bubble. The Bubble Nebula, NGC7635 (HSO palette) by Pau Montplet Sanz, on Flickr
ImageA Cosmic Bubble. The Bubble Nebula, NGC7635 (HSO palette+normal color)) by Pau Montplet Sanz, on Flickr

A Cosmic Bubble. The Bubble Nebula, NGC7635(Photo 1: Normal color/ Photo 2: HSO palette/ Photo 3: HSO palette + normal color)

Credits: Pau Montplet Sanz
Location of capture: Breda, Spain
Date of capture: different nights between September 7 and 11

Hello everyone, I send my submission to APOD!
A cosmic bubble, NGC7635 The Bubble Nebula, it is a H II region emission nebula located in the constellation Cassiopeia. Stars are born inside these nebulae. Ultraviolet radiation emitted by stars inside and outside the nebula ionizes the gas and causes it to glow and emit its own light.
The "bubble" of gas from which this nebula takes its name has been formed by stellar winds, traveling at about 2000 km/s, from a central star, which has between 10 and 20 times the mass of our sun, they have been deforming and expanding the gas.
This nebula is at a distance of between 7,100 and 11,000 light years from Earth. The diameter of the bubble is said to be about 7 light years.
Image taken during these last nights. 14.25 hours of integration with photographs of 5 minutes of exposure each (171 photographs of 5 minutes of exposure in total)

Set up: Celestron C11 XLT, Skywatcher AzEq6 Mount, PlayerOne Ares C PRO, OAG celestron, ZWO asi 120mc-s, Obtolong L-Enhance dual band filter.

Software ( for capture and processing): NINA, PHD2 guiding, SiriL, Pixinsight)

Greetings!!

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2023 8:01 pm
by astrosama
Movement of the Airglow in front of the milky way, White Desert (time laps )

An atmospheric emission of light known as airglow, also known as nightglow, occurs on planets. Even if the impacts of starlight and diffused sunlight from the far side are eliminated, the night sky on Earth never truly darkens due to this optical phenomenon.

The Milky Way with the White Desert's Arches Airglow
9 Sep 23
9:00 PM (+3GMT)

White Desert



Gears :
Nikon Z6 (Mod) , Nikkor 14-24
EXIF:
88*20 sec, ISO 6400, f2.8, @14 mm



Credit :
Osama Fathi / https://www.instagram.com/osama.fathi.nswatcher85/
Social:
https://www.instagram.com/osama.fathi.nswatcher85/
https://www.facebook.com/NSWatcher/

Imagestack by osama Fathi, on Flickr

Imagestack-annotated by osama Fathi, on Flickr

Video
ImageMilky way air glow from the white desert by osama Fathi, on Flickr

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2023 8:05 pm
by astrosama
Comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura)
Between the Trees in the Black Desert, Comet Nishimura

Deep in the Black Desert, one of Egypt's natural reservesوWithin this area there are many perennial trees.

As soon as I heard about the appearance of this beautiful green comet, I rushed to take a picture of it from this place. It is a comet whose period exceeds 400 years, and therefore the current population of the world will not see it again.

I woke up an hour before sunrise and prepared to take a photo of him that I will always remember


Date 26 Aug 2023
4:15 to 5:45 Local time (GMT+3)

Black Desert, Egyptian Western Desert ,Egypt


Gears:
RedCat 51, Celestron 3X barlow, Nikon Z6, ASI 294MM
Skywatcher Staradventurer 2i

Field of View : 1.3*1.03 Degrees

ImageBetween the Trees in the Black Desert, Comet Nishimura by osama Fathi, on Flickr

EXIF:
Lights :Comet tracked and stacked : 19*1 min +26* 30 sec, Iso 8000, 10000
Darks:25, Flats :40, Dark Flats: 20, Bias :50
Foreground: Panorama of 3 Photos at the same Field of view 2.5 Sec, ISO 1000

Softwares: DSS, Pixinsight, Photoshop, Astrotools

Credit
Osama Fathi
Social:
https://www.instagram.com/osama.fathi.nswatcher85/
https://www.facebook.com/NSWatcher/

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2023 1:29 pm
by Victor Lima
Category: Single Exposure Panorama
Social IG: victorlimaphoto
Story:
A incredible night in Rainbow Valley, Atacama Desert in Chile.
The Rainbow Valley, located in the Atacama Desert near San Pedro de Atacama, is one of Chile's most stunning natural wonders. Its name is derived from the array of colors that paint its mountains and valleys, a tapestry of hues caused by mineralization over millennia. The colors range from gold and red to green and blue, creating an almost surreal landscape under the intense desert sun. Beyond its rich and diverse color palette, the valley is dotted with peculiar rock formations and canyons carved by erosion. Visiting the Rainbow Valley is a journey through geological time, offering visitors a chance to marvel at nature's strength and Earth's ability to craft beauty in the harshest of conditions.
EXIF:
10/09/2023 11:50pm
Canon 6D Ha-mod / Rokinon 12mm f/2.8 fisheye
8x 30 sec / f:2.8 / ISO 10000

ImageRainbow Valley, Atacama Desert by Victor Lima, no Flickr

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2023 8:56 pm
by lookbackintime
NGC6823 in Vulpecula
A star cluster and emission nebula (Sh2-86) that surrounds it. PIllars of hydrogen, supernova remnants, and ionized gases fill the frame. The cluster itself is about 50 light years across and formed about 2 million years ago. It lies 6000 light years from Earth.

Celestron EdgeHD 8"
Player One Poseidon-M Pro
Antlia 3nm Narrowband (SHO) Filters
9 hours mono imaging.
Click to view full size image
Full quality version can be found here: https://astrob.in/s0h2qu/0/

©2023 Eddie Pons (aka Eduardo Ponsdomenech)

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2023 9:54 pm
by Mh.sanaeipour
ISS2.jpg
International space station

The most important thing to know about this photo, is that the camera used to capture is not a regular planetary sensor or even a DSLR. Rather, it is the camera of a mid-range mobile phone!
This method is called "Afocal photography"

This pass was very unique for my location. Due to the maximum altitude of 90°, Which makes the distance between the station and the observer the least possible value.

To capture this image, I attached the mobile phone to the telescope's eyepiece. Then I tried to focus with a bright star and set the right exposure time and ISO for the video frames. After a few minutes, ISS rised up. I started to manually track it. Fortunately, when it's altitude was between 80° and 90°, I could keep it in the screen for about 2 seconds. That 2 seconds was the best part of my 3 minute video.

The next step was processing. I used pipp to get the frames wich included the ISS. Then I chose 100 frames for stacking. Out of those 100 frames, 15 of the best ones were stacked in autostakkert!3. And finally sharpened in registax6.

It is quite Interesting that 2 out of the 4 pairs of main solar arrays are not visible in this image. This is because they were not reflecting sunlight towards me.

Location: IRAN, Razavi khorasan, Syyedabad khoshab
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seyyedaba ... prov=sfla1)

Date: 13/09/2023 | 19:11 (+3:30 UTC)

Equipment:
Skywatcher 150/750, 4.5 mm tmb eyepiece, 3d printed mobile adapter, Samsung galaxy A52 (as camera sensor), handmade dobsonian mount

Flyby details: (from https://www.heavens-above.com/)
Distance: 420 km, Altitude: 90°, magnitude: -4.00

Image in my instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/p/CxJQefOIJmm ... IyMDk2Mg==

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2023 10:48 am
by jose
http://astronomiargb.webcindario.com/LD ... nombre.jpg
Hola a todos, por aqui os dejo la nebulosa del Tiburón, espero que almenos os guste, estos son los datos
TOMAS:
R: 34 Light de 600 segundos, 26 Darks, 31 Flats y 30 Bias
G: 26 Light de 600 segundos, 26 Darks, 31 Flats y 30 Bias
B: 34 Light de 600 segundos, 26Darks, 31 Flats y 30 Bias
L: 27 Light de 600 segundos, 26 Darks, 30 Flats y 30 Bias

que hacen un total de 20 horas mas 10 minuto

TEMPERATURA: -10 GRADOS
TUBO: FSQ 106 ED
CCD: SBIG ST-8300M
MONTURA: CGEM
CCD guiar: QHY5II
LUGAR: LAS INVIERNAS (GUADALAJARA)
Un saludo
jose

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2023 3:05 pm
by barretosmed
LICANCABUR VOLCANO, MILK WAY AND THE ATACAMA DESERT

MELHORES DETALHES
https://www.astrobin.com/full/4gw66u/B/

EQUIPAMENTO:
Cânone 6D
Lente Canon 24mm 1.4
Monte smarteq pro

Sky:
1X59" @ ISO3200 F3.5
Foreground:
Stack of 1X59" @ ISO3200 F3.5

LOCATION: San Pedro de Atacama - Chile
DATE 04/17/2023

Autor: Fernando Oliveira de Menezes
E-mail: Barretosmed@hotmail.com
Click to view full size image

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2023 4:09 pm
by emmanuel_joly
SH2-132 Lion nebula

Located in the constellation of Cepheus, the Lion Nebula is situated approximately 10,400 light-years away from Earth. This nebula derives its name from its striking resemblance to a majestic lion, adorned with a remarkable mane. Within it, two distinct components are discernible: a region rich in hydrogen (HA) representing the head with the mane, as well as the body and tail of the nebula primarily appearing in the form of oxygen (OIII).

4 night for this image : 09/06/23 to 09/09/2023 and acquisition time 26h15 in RGB(stars)HOO

Emmanuel joly

https://www.astrobin.com/full/ma13ow/0/

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2023 11:14 pm
by astrovirus
LDN 1251; The Angler Fish aka Rotten Fish Nebula.

Another dark nebula from the Cepheus Molecualr Cloud, captured under challenging Bortle 5-6 conditions. Attempted this last year with the 200P but ended up with a nasty reflection in the center, which later on proved to be present in all my 200P images.

Data aquisition: September 13-16, 2023. 240 frames of 5 minutes, total integration of 20 hours.

Optics: Skywatcher QUATTRO 150P/0.85x Aplanic Coma Corrector (F/3,45).

Filters: Optolong L-pro.

Camera: Altair Astro 269C PROTEC HYPERCAM, cooled to -10°C, GAIN 282 (HCG), offset 150.

Mount: Skywatcher NEQ6.

Guiding: 9x50 Finderguider/QHY5.

Focusing: ZWO EAF.

Control: N.I.N.A. (mount (EQmod)/camera/guiding (PHD2)/autofocus/platesolving (ASTAP)/meridian flip). Datareduction: 36 darks / 25 flats / 25 darkflats.

Processing: PixInsight (Starless [RC Astro SxT] DBE / SPCC / RC Astro BxT / RC Astro NxT / GHS / SCNR).
Click to view full size image
https://www.flickr.com/photos/199090376 ... en-public/

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2023 1:27 pm
by ejhebert
Target: NGC-6946 (SH2-162) SHO - The Bubble Nebula
Imaging Telescope: Explore Scientific ED127 CF
Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro
Image Acquisition: ASIAir Plus
Guide Scope: Explore Scientific ED127 CF
Guide Camera: ZWO 220mm-Mini
Mount: ZWO AM5
Polar Alignment: ASIAir Plus
Bortle Class: 6
Filter: Chroma SHO
SII – 73 x 300s
Ha – 90 x 300s
OIII – 88 x 300s
Integration: PixInsight/RC Astro
14, 15, 16 Aug 2023

Full Resolution on Astrobin: https://astrob.in/ksuygl/B/

This one was an interesting one to process and get it to where I wanted. I found a workflow from Cosgrove's Cosmos and used it as the basis of the processing with a couple of tweaks. I am very pleased with the outcome.

Located with in a giant molecular cloud in the constellation Cassiopeia, NGC-7635 is approximately 7,100ly from Earth.
NGC-7635 SHO Final NASA APOD Submission.png

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2023 3:07 pm
by Antekza
I've taken this image today at 12:36 (GMT +2:00) This is by far biggest sun prominance (or CME) that i got to shoot. Also sun today was going crazy with it's edge features with many other prominances and CME's, that's why i'm uploading dew more images. Image was taken at Grodzisk('s) Mazowiecki('s) Observatory entirely by me.

https://cdn.astrobin.com/thumbs/ttx_ooO ... TZ0INm.jpg
ttx_ooOzfvtS_16536x0_ieTZ0INm[1].jpg

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2023 9:04 pm
by paumontplet
Clavius and Tycho. Close-up. Mosaic of 4 images
Hello everyone!! I submit my lunar image for APOD!

Explanation: Two of the most famous and observed craters on the Moon in the same image.
Mosaic of 4 high resolution images of the area. Other craters that appear in the image are: Blancanus, Rutherfurd, Porter, Maginus, Street, Pictet, and a long etc...
Details up to 300 m, even a little less, can be seen. That's a lot of resolution! The good seeing helped to get this image.

Setup: C11, Azeq6, barlow x2 apo vip Baader, ADC ts-optics, PlayerOne Mars-CII
Processed with Astrosurface and windows Image Composite Editor for the mosaic.
Not enhanced with AI!

Credits: Pau Montplet Sanz
(@astro_breda)
Location: Breda, Spain
Date: 2023/09/07

Thanks!!! Greetings!!

ImageClavius and Tycho. Close-up. Mosaic of 4 images by Pau Montplet Sanz, en Flickr

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2023 10:14 pm
by Alberto Vacca
ISS and Soyuz docking (with timelapse video) - 23/09/15
Copyright: Alberto Vacca
Image URL: https://www.flickr.com/photos/197853132 ... ed-public/
ISS_23-09-15_image.png

Description:
The International Space Station was in good visibility conditions on 15th September 2023 from my city in Italy, when it was 68° above the horizon just some minutes before Soyuz MS-24, carrying a NASA astronaut and two cosmonauts, docked to the ISS. Here is the timelapse video of the passage:
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
The approaching Soyuz vehicle is pointed by the red arrow in the center of the video, that shows the central 3 minutes of the pass and has been sped up 10 times.
To track the ISS I used a software written by me that connects the telescope to PC, using the ASCOM platform, and sends the right commands to the mount to keep the satellite in the center of the image. The idea of this program was born almost a year ago from the desire to take shots like this one, in which the Space Station is observed as it approaches and changes angles: the idea has finally come true and soon I hope to be able to make the program available to amateur astronomers who want to try this kind of photography.

The video starting time is: 2023 September 15, 20:48 local time (18:48 UT).
Location: Parma (Emilia-Romagna, Italy), home garden.

Equipment:
- Celestron Nexstar 127slt maksutov telescope, on its alt-azimuth mount
- Zwo Asi 120mc-s color camera

Software:
- FireCapture (video recording)
- PIPP (debayer and aligning)
- Registax (image sharpening)
- Adobe Photoshop (rescaling of the image and final adjustments)

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2023 8:54 am
by ExplorerEGYWO
ImageFearless Night by Wael Omar, on Flickr
This image was full of adventure as it was very far away inside the desert by 2 hours drive from nearest city and 5 hours from home. I had to climb very steep cliff and to overcome my fears and set on this high spot over the mountain to have this view.
There were no one to help me to image the foreground with me inside the frame so I use intervalometer and walk for about 300 meters away from the camera in a very dark place ( Moon was crescent) then set in the planned spot for about 20 seconds with no move at all to avoid motion blur then get back to the camera to see how the image look like and if I am in frame or not . Too much pain and efforts but I was pleased when finally I succeed in get the image as I planned.
The sky image was from same location same night with same equipment , it is a stack of 202 images.
Settings:
Sony A7III Ha astromodified
Sigma art 50 mm 1.4

Foreground :
1 shot , F 2.2 , iso 1600 , 20 seconds.
Sky:
202 images , F2.5. iso 1250 , 60 seconds.

Date : 08 of September ,2023

All images (foreground and sky )taken during same night in same place with same camera and lens.

Location: Western desert, EGYPT.
Credit: Wael Omar WO /https://www.instagram.com/waelomar_astrophotography/

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2023 9:10 am
by WolfHeart
The Andromeda Galaxy - HaLRGB

ImageAndromeda Galaxy in HaLRGB by Ahmed Waddah, on Flickr

The Andromeda Galaxy 2.5 million light years from our Milky Way is the nearest galaxy to us. Also known as M31.

Image data were acquired in August, the night of the 12th into the 13th.

ASI2600MM
AM5
Redcat 51
Antlia LRGB
Antlia Ha 3nm

Ha: 20 x 300
L: 66 x 180"
R: 20 x 180"
G: 20 x 180"
B: 22 x 180"

https://www.astrobin.com/q04kt8/

Social:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/waddah.photography
Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/WolfHeart/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/waddahphotography/

Re: Submissions: 2023 September

Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2023 2:04 pm
by Victor Lima
Category: Stacked Shot (NR)
Social IG: victorlimaphoto
Story:
The Milky Way crosses the sky of Piedras Rojas while the Zodiacal Light and Air Glow complement the night sky spectacle of the Atacama Desert in Chile.
Situated in the Atacama Desert, the Piedras Rojas is specifically located near the Argentinian border, approximately 150 kilometers southeast of the town of San Pedro de Atacama. As the name suggests, the most prominent feature of this area is the reddish rocks and formations. Adjacent to the red rock formations are a few altiplanic lagoons. The high salt concentration of these lagoons gives the water a reflective quality, providing visitors with breathtaking views of the surrounding.
Dominating the upper third of the frame is the dense, cloudy stretch of the Milky Way. This band, filled with millions of stars, clusters, and interstellar dust, offers a rich tonal gradient, transitioning from a brighter core to fainter edges. The central bulge, with a higher concentration of stars, appears more pronounced and is the visual anchor of the Milky Way in this image.
Radiating from the horizon and stretching towards the Milky Way's core is the Zodiacal Light. This is an elongated, faint, triangular glow, appearing opposite the setting or rising sun. It is a result of sunlight scattering off interplanetary dust particles that lie in the plane of the solar system. Its presence is indicative of the image being taken shortly after sunset or just before sunrise and serves to bridge the gap between the terrestrial and celestial components of the photo.
Providing a vivid color palette against the backdrop of space, the air glow appears as faint ripples of luminescence, manifesting in shades of red, green, and even purple. This phenomenon is caused by the recombination of atoms and molecules that were photoionized by the sun during the day, combined with chemiluminescence, where chemical reactions in the upper atmosphere produce light. Its patchy distribution lends an uneven, wavy texture to the night sky, juxtaposing the more uniform, granular spread of the Milky Way stars.
EXIF:
15/set/2023 9:40pm
Canon 6D Ha-mod / Rokinon 12mm f/2.8 fisheye
8X 30 sec / f:2.8 / ISO 6400 (Stacked for NR)

ImagePiedras Rojas - Atacama Desert in Chile by Victor Lima, no Flickr