{"id":1981,"date":"2020-08-10T19:05:09","date_gmt":"2020-08-10T23:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/?p=1981"},"modified":"2020-08-11T13:38:48","modified_gmt":"2020-08-11T17:38:48","slug":"shooting-the-milky-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/shooting-the-milky-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Shooting the Milky Way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I hadn’t tried to shoot the Milky Way yet, so after Calin went to bed last night, I snuck down to the park to avail of some reasonably dark (no street lights right in my southern view) and open skies. I was down there about an hour and a half, snapping away like a nut. But when I got home, I was really not happy with the results. That disappointment continued to this morning and this afternoon, until I found a new stacker program, Sequator<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started the night with my trusty 50mm lens, but I knew I would need to go wider to have a shot at the Milky Way, so I switched to the 35mm. It did the job, but it is not the best lens. It leaves black blobs, which I haven’t quite figured out how to remove in The GIMP<\/a> yet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sequator does a damn fine job not just stacking images, but removing light pollution and a few other key tweaks that make the work needed to be done in The GIMP pretty much trivial. Jupiter is that bright “dash” at mid-left. You can see one of the black blobs from the lens. And you can also see the remains of the light pollution coming from the neighborhood on the other side of those trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Milky Way with Jupiter, stacked with Sequator<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a slightly more elevated snap. You can see Jupiter in there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here’s Saturn chasing Jupiter into the Milky Way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While looking around, I spied the Big Dipper hanging out there in a dark northwest part of the sky. It had, seriously, not this many stars visible around it. It really looked like it was mainly alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Arcturus was looking nice, too. The two green UFO\/galaxy looking things are artifacts from some flat files. I need to get that sorted. They might, actually, be in the lens, which is not making me happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And this last one I am not really sure what I was going for, but I like this one. It makes me think of the view screen on the bridge of the Enterprise. There is more than likely a Messier object in there, but it is so tiny with a 35mm lens that it got washed out in the post-processing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Clouds are threatening to block out the sky tonight, but if I get a chance, I am going to bring down a 55-200mm telephoto lens and see if I can grab Andromeda. I think I had it in the field, but it was, again, so tiny in a 35mm field of view, that I am not sure if it was a galaxy or a lens blob!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I hadn’t tried to shoot the Milky Way yet, so after Calin went to bed last night, I snuck down to the park to avail of some reasonably dark (no street lights right in my southern view) and open skies. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[376,13],"tags":[382,94,378,509,507,508],"class_list":["post-1981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-astronomy","category-photography","tag-astrophotography","tag-calin","tag-jupiter","tag-lenses","tag-messier","tag-milky-way"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2NxlE-vX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2114,"url":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/finally-caught-m31-and-m33-together-plus-cassiopeia-with-m103\/","url_meta":{"origin":1981,"position":0},"title":"Finally caught M31 and M33 together. Plus Cassiopeia with M103","author":"matthannan","date":"15 November 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I finally got a good shot of M31 and M33! So happy. 50mm, f\/2.8, ISO 640, 361 exposures at 5 seconds each (just over 30 minutes) I have a much larger version, should you be interested. In that one, you can see that I was starting to capture the arms\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Mirach-RGB-session_1-mod-lpc-cbg-cbg-St-ro.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Mirach-RGB-session_1-mod-lpc-cbg-cbg-St-ro.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Mirach-RGB-session_1-mod-lpc-cbg-cbg-St-ro.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Mirach-RGB-session_1-mod-lpc-cbg-cbg-St-ro.png?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2033,"url":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/testing-the-new-camera-and-a-new-location\/","url_meta":{"origin":1981,"position":1},"title":"Testing the “new” Camera and a new Location","author":"matthannan","date":"27 August 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Tried out a new location last night. This was at a boat launch\/park on the east side of one of the local lakes. While I was packing up, a late night fisherman suggested a couple of super dark locations around the state. He'd know better than me! I went out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Bootes-35-small.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Bootes-35-small.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Bootes-35-small.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Bootes-35-small.png?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Bootes-35-small.png?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2129,"url":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/leveling-up-my-post-processing-with-starnet\/","url_meta":{"origin":1981,"position":2},"title":"Leveling up my post-processing with StarNet++","author":"matthannan","date":"18 November 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The other night I posted an image of Cassiopeia that I banged out very quickly in Sequator and The GIMP. Over the last few nights, I have re-run those images through Astro Pixel Processor as a way of getting better acquainted with that tool and its huge amount of features.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Cass-Seq-scaled-annotated.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Cass-Seq-scaled-annotated.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Cass-Seq-scaled-annotated.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Cass-Seq-scaled-annotated.png?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Cass-Seq-scaled-annotated.png?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Cass-Seq-scaled-annotated.png?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2070,"url":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/andromeda-at-50mm\/","url_meta":{"origin":1981,"position":3},"title":"Andromeda at 50mm","author":"matthannan","date":"11 October 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This is from a session that I did back on Sept 25, using the 50mm f\/1.8 prime lens. Been banging my head against it in Deep Sky Stacker, Siril, and Sequator for the stacking and pre-processing, and then finishing up with The GIMP for post-processing. I just was not happy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Andromeda-50-DSS.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Andromeda-50-DSS.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Andromeda-50-DSS.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Andromeda-50-DSS.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Andromeda-50-DSS.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Andromeda-50-DSS.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2081,"url":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/triangulum-galaxy-at-50mm\/","url_meta":{"origin":1981,"position":4},"title":"Triangulum Galaxy at 50mm","author":"matthannan","date":"18 October 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"M33, the Triangulum Galaxy, or the Pinwheel Galaxy, and its neighborhood at 50mm. If the sky stays clear, I am going to try again tonight at 100mm. I knew nothing about this galaxy yesterday. Now I know that it is the second brightest object that we can see with our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/M33-study-scaled-down.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/M33-study-scaled-down.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/M33-study-scaled-down.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/M33-study-scaled-down.png?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/M33-study-scaled-down.png?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/M33-study-scaled-down.png?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2098,"url":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/m31-and-m33-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":1981,"position":5},"title":"M31 and M33 again","author":"matthannan","date":"8 November 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Revisited the sky last night after a period of inactivity due to rain, snow, clouds, and\/or cold. It was nice to be outside again. Tried to get M31 and M33 in the same shot. M31 & M33, Take 1 Because I was unable to see my two main targets, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/2for50-Seq-cleaned-scaled-1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/2for50-Seq-cleaned-scaled-1.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/2for50-Seq-cleaned-scaled-1.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/2for50-Seq-cleaned-scaled-1.png?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/2for50-Seq-cleaned-scaled-1.png?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/2for50-Seq-cleaned-scaled-1.png?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1981"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1996,"href":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1981\/revisions\/1996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthannan.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}