It's #MilkyWay season again here in the northern hemisphere.
I took this image using my phone last night around 2am looking south from my moderately light-polluted site in east Tucson. 5×90s subs captured in Astroshader were combined in Siril. A final stretch was applied in GIMP.
Further experiments last night. Here, I doubled the total exposure time (so, a total of 900 s). Same processing steps.
Having started in astrophotography about a million years ago using film, it blows my mind that my phone can collect the data used to make an image like this now.
The Milky Way is best seen during the summer months (from June to August) in the Dolomites. During this time, the galactic core is positioned high in the night sky, offering the best view of the Milky Way's band of stars, dust, and gas.
Photographer Tom Rae:
‘The Milky Way emerges from New Zealand’s highest mountain on a winter night – a shot I’ve longed to capture. In rare alpine weather conditions, I embarked on a journey up the glacial valley one night. Upon reaching the lake, the scene that unfolded made me feel like I had landed on another planet.'
‘My primary goal in #astrophotography is to unveil the hidden beauty of the night sky beyond the visible stars. I’m especially passionate about showcasing our galaxy, the Milky Way, in all its glory’
‘The wisdom of the juniper reveals itself in its aged roots, twisted and sculpted over millennia, enduring the ravages of time and countless obstacles. Amid the ever-changing tides of time, one constant remains: its profound connection with the night sky and the Milky Way. Their paths intertwine and converge, culminating in a perfect alignment.'
Photographer Francesco Dall’Olmo: ‘This was the first photo I took in Patagonia. Contrary to expectations of cold, rain, and wind, our initial encounter with these landscapes was unusual: nearly three days of clear skies. This clear welcome gifted me with a rare photo of Mount Fitz Roy framed by the Milky Way arch’
Photographer Rositsa Dimitrova: ‘The gorgeous bottle trees of #Socotra only bloom for a few weeks in February and March, and it’s a mesmerising sight you want to experience again and again’
Photographer Yuri Beletsky: ‘I captured this view at one of the remote sites of the Atacama Desert in Chile. The Galactic centre was already shining high in the sky, with the zodiacal light beautifully complementing it on the right. The blue colour was as real as the stars in the sky, adding a touch of magic to the scene’
Photographer Julien Looten: ‘An exceptional airglow illuminated the sky, resembling multicoloured clouds. This phenomenon occurs due to a chemical reaction in the upper atmosphere, emitting faint light known as #chemiluminescence. You can also see, from left to right, Sirius and the constellation of Orion, Mars, the Pleiades, the California nebula, Cassiopeia, the double cluster of Perseus, and the Andromeda'