Loch More Star Trails

[astroman]

Photos from Loch More last night.

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj138/astroman_caithness/LochMoreStartrails20Mar.jpg

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj138/astroman_caithness/LochMoreStartrailsLitCottage.jpg

Must brave the cold for longer next time to get longer trails.

Photos taken using DSLR & tripod (& torch for highlighting cottage in second image)

[wifie]

Brilliant with the highlighted cottage astroman! :)

[Mystical Potato Head]

Agreed,the torchlit cottage makes a superb forground point of interest and excellent trails too.Was it hazy out there because it was terrible in the town,everything below the level of Saturn was in a haze,being flat calm didn't help,every bit of chimney smoke just hovers around the town and doesn't get blown away.

[astroman]

Agreed,the torchlit cottage makes a superb forground point of interest and excellent trails too.Was it hazy out there because it was terrible in the town,everything below the level of Saturn was in a haze,being flat calm didn't help,every bit of chimney smoke just hovers around the town and doesn't get blown away.

It was hazy even out there. Only the brightest stars were visible near the horizon - check out how faint Rigel appears in the first photo.

Overhead was pretty clear though and there was no real light pollution, so it's a spot I might try out again. Unfortunately it was a bit breezy at times and with little in the way of buildings to hide behind it was cold :eek:

[Mystical Potato Head]

It was well worth it,i really like the second image and it will be a superb dark site when there's no haze.Even out at Harpsdale when were working ot in the winter,the sky is jet black and see so many stars compared to the town,the milkyway looks like it was spray painted on it is so bright,all about contrast i suppose.

[Deemac]

I'm guessing a 10 minute exposure time. I recon you need at least an hour for a really good trail length. Not tried this yet myself. Did a 20 minute test some time ago now. (but the moon was too bright). Like the shots.

[tjc]

Yeh... great shots astroman. Must brave the cold nights and give this a shot sometime soon.

Both are good but like the second with the cottage lit up...

:)

[astroman]

Thanks for the kind comments. Hopefully this shows that you don't necessarily need fancy equipment to take astrophotos - just a bit of time, patience and of course warm clothing :).

I came across "startrails" software (http://www.startrails.de/html/software.html (http://www.startrails.de/html/software.html)) last week and used it to combine 8x1min exposures to give these images. Previously I've taken single long exposures to get star trail images, but long exposures can turn out a bit noisy - the technique of multiple shorter exposures seems to me to work better.

I reckon somewhere in the region of 30-60 minutes would have given the startrail effect I was looking for. I'm now looking forward to a few clear nights to try again.

[Mystical Potato Head]

I'm guessing a 10 minute exposure time. I recon you need at least an hour for a really good trail length. Not tried this yet myself. Did a 20 minute test some time ago now. (but the moon was too bright). Like the shots.

Depends where in the sky your taking the trails from.10mins centered around the pole star will give you shorter trails than 10mins near the celestial equator.
A 50mm lens at 90 deg from the pole star will take around 8seconds before stars start to trail.
30 deg from the pole star and it takes about 25 seconds.

[Mystical Potato Head]

30 min exposure @20mm centered round polaris.Half moon added a nice blueish glow to everything.Washes out the fainter stars but thats to be expected.

http://i374.photobucket.com/albums/oo189/sat5_photos/IMG_1238copy1_filtered.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/northern_exposures_2009/3409158410/sizes/l/

[tjc]

Oh yes MPH.

Love that one... love the colour to it. Brilliant shot.

Was gonna say it`s a 5 star shot but there`s a few more there than that, lol.

Cracker. :)

[wifie]

Beautiful shot MPH - the colour is gorgeous and like yer tree silhouette.

[Deemac]

Superb shot MPH. Love it lots

[Kenn]

Did the world spin for you MPH? Great shot

[Mystical Potato Head]

Thanks for the comments,heres one from below my scope.Only 18mins thanks to cloud moving in,had planned one hour.

http://i374.photobucket.com/albums/oo189/sat5_photos/IMG_1454.jpg

Big on black@ http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/onblack.php?id=3433286230&size=large

[astroman]

Fantastic star trails MPH - that light pollution filter works a treat!

[Mystical Potato Head]

Thanks a lot,yep ,the filter works a treat.
Here's one final trail 45 mins@35mm,f2.8 this time and that'll do for trails till the Autumn.
Surprised at the tree detail.

http://i374.photobucket.com/albums/oo189/sat5_photos/IMG_1479_filtered.jpg

[tjc]

That`s another belter MPH...

Seeing these is making me really want to give it a try myself.

Brilliant stuff... really liking the blueish hint to them and the trails are spot on.

[North Light]

mph,

Stunning result.

[astroman]

Another cracker MPH - best of the bunch I think.

While you were posting your latest efforts I dragged myself away from the US Masters excitement on the telly to capture a different type of trail - a double Iridium Satellite Flare.
Not sure how rare these are, but it's the first double one I've seen.

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj138/astroman_caithness/DoubleIridiumFlare.jpg

For those wanting to catch this fairly impressive sight, single flares are quite common with some being bright enough to be seen in daylight. Where/when to see them can be found at www.heavens-above.com (http://www.heavens-above.com)

[Mystical Potato Head]

Brilliant capture Astroman,have seen two at the same time before but never side by side like this one,very rare i would say.Well done indeed.
Do you fancy having a go at trying to capturing the ISS through your main scope?Seen a few pics of ppl who just manually guide their scopes to follow it.you can make out the solar panels and main body,quite amazing really.

[astroman]

Brilliant capture Astroman,have seen two at the same time before but never side by side like this one,very rare i would say.Well done indeed.
Do you fancy having a go at trying to capturing the ISS through your main scope?Seen a few pics of ppl who just manually guide their scopes to follow it.you can make out the solar panels and main body,quite amazing really.

I agree, the detail some manage to get photographing the ISS is quite amazing. Not convinced I'd be able to track it and photograph it with the speed it moves across the sky, but might give it a go some time.

[astroman]

Just had to try a long exposure myself before the summer nights arrive...

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj138/astroman_caithness/30minStarTrail.jpg
30 minutes at ISO100 on a static tripod. Pole Star bottom left with bright trails at the top belonging to the Plough

[Mystical Potato Head]

Great shot.like the framing too.The dreaded long days are getting near.

[wifie]

That's fab astroman! Love the orange branch!