On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether youāre traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
š¾BillinGlendaleCA
The sensors on digital camera can record a broader spectrum of light than what we can see, including infrared and ultraviolet light.Ā So that our photos look normal to humans, camera manufactures put a filter called a hot mirror in front of the sensor to filter out light that humans can’t see.Ā Unfortunately for photographers that take pictures of the night sky, this can present issues.Ā Hydrogen is the most plentiful element in the universe and when it changes energy state in response to radiation like from say at star, it will release a photon with a wavelength of about 656nm.Ā But the stock hot mirror in cameras will filter out most of this light.Ā So what many astrophotographers will do is have their camera modified to remove the stock hot mirror and replace it with a filter that just blocks the IR/UV wavelengths.
I recently purchased a used Sony A7r, that I had modified.Ā The modification that I had on the camera was a full spectrum modification, where they remove the hot mirror and replace it with a piece of glass to maintain the ability to autofocus and protect the sensor.Ā I have a IR/UV cut filter that I clip into the camera body in the lens mount, so it is then effectively an astro mod.Ā Having a full spectrum modification also allows me to shoot infrared with the appropriate filter.Ā Many cameras have put in IR shutter timing lights(the newer Sonys and my Samsung NX300 have this) that make long exposures impossible with a full spectrum modification which is why I purchased an older Sony model.
I’ve been shooting with the A7r for about a month now, it was slow starting out since there are some things that you have to do differently with an astromod than what you would do with a stock camera.Ā I’ve worked out most of the kinks and have the camera pretty much set up to get quality shots.Ā All the shots below are from mid to late August at Kearsarge in the Owens Valley, Red Rock north of Mojave and Fossil Falls just south of the Owens Valley.
Kearsarge is about 10 miles east of Independance CA, it is a particularly dark area and one of my favorite places to shoot.Ā It was once a railroad depot for the line that ran from Nevada down the Owens Valley.Ā This time of year the Milky Way core sinks pretty quickly in the southwest after dark, so it is hard to get a shot when there are mountains(the coast is better this time of year).
While Red Rock is not the darkest site, it is close and easy to get to since the parking lot is right off of CA-14.Ā This is the California nebula in the constellation Perseus.Ā It is not very bright visually, but emits a good deal of H-alpha, so is perfect for an astromod camera.
This shot captures a portion of the Milky Way framed by the Summer Triagle(Vega at the bottom right, Altair at the bottom left and Deneb at the top right).Ā There is a great deal of H-alpha nebulosity in Cygnus near Deneb.
The Andromeda Galaxy(M31) is our closest galactic neighbor(not counting our satellite galaxies) and it is getting closer.Ā It is visible by naked eye as a light patch in the sky.
A wide view of Orion.Ā This was a bit of an unplanned shot and I didn’t get as many shots to combine that I would have liked, but it does shot the large amount of nebulosity around Orion.Ā To the left of Orion is a portion of the Milky Way arch and the zodiacal light.
A closer view of the Cygnus region of the Milky Way arch.Ā The North American and Pelican nebula are just above Deneb which is just right of center. The nebulosity in Cygnus is just to the left of Deneb and you can even see the Viel nebula at the upper left.
The Orion nebula.Ā This was taken just before the beginning of astronomical twilight.Ā This is a 40 minute total exposure.Ā I will be reshooting this in the next few months with a significantly longer total exposure time, maybe 2 hours.
The Pleiades is an open star cluster that illuminates a dust cloud in a nice blue hue.Ā The solar wind from the stars create ripples in the dust.
Hurricane Open Thread
Baud
I wish we could see the scene in the first shot with the naked eye.Ā Incredible.
š¾BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Thanks.
jackmac
Wow! Ā Beautiful images and an informative post. Ā I never knew about camera adjustments you needed to make. It also doesnāt seem possible to get these kind of images due to the atmospheric distortions while on Earth. Ā Nice work!
eclare
Interesting, beautiful shots.Ā Love the Andromeda one.
Chris T.
@jackmac: Dry desert air and/or high-elevation helps. For long duration shots you need equipment that counters the rotation of the earth underneath you…
David Chop
Great shots.
I used to live in Sacramento and loved taking road trips around Nor-Cal looking for dark sky spots to shoot from. Never got any portfolio worthy shots, but I really enjoyed driving out into the middle of nowhere and sleeping in the truck. No, really. I loved it. Never had a modded camera though. I’ll have to do a little homework on that one. :)
I did find that even the darkest spots had light pollution issues at the horizon. Shooting from a small depression/valley or with some mountains in the distance (and no city in between) seemed to help a lot. My favorite spot in the Route 5 corridor was around Black Butte lake, in case there are any fellow Nor-Cal folks in here. Made for a great one-nighter trip.
I retired and left the US two years ago. So knowing that was coming, I did several long road trips foreseeing that that bit of fun wasn’t going to be an option for me for a while. Took one out across the Extraterrestrial Highway then down through southern Utah just for the dark skies. Remember what the fire season was like two years ago in the western States? LOL. Every shot I got, day or night, was hazed to hell and back with wildfire smoke. Oh well, still got weeks of road tripping around the gorgeous western States.
Again, some great shots you got there. Tip ‘o the hat to you.
š¾BillinGlendaleCA
@jackmac: Thanks, I hoped the tech stuff wasn’t too boring.Ā I almost put a tl/dr at the top.
@eclare: I like the M31(hope the commenter shows up to see it’s pic), that is one I’ll reshoot with a longer exposure.Ā I also shot the Triangulum galaxy, but it was out of focus.
@Chris T.: The dry desert is also where few folk live and has less light.Ā I’ve had a tracker for almost 6 years, I don’t use it all the time, but I did with all of these shots.Ā They were all shot at elevations between 2700 and 4000 feet.
LiminalOwl
Bill, thank you for these wonderful pictures. A lovely start to my morning!
VeniceRiley
Wonderful shots!
š¾BillinGlendaleCA
@David Chop: Thanks, I’ve been looking at light pollution filters for the light horizon issue.Ā It is partly light pollution which a filter can help with, partly airglow which it won’t help much, and partly just more atmosphere at the horizon distorting the image.Ā It is nice to drive for 3 hours and be able to find really dark skies.
š¾BillinGlendaleCA
@LiminalOwl: Glad you like them.
@VeniceRiley: I’ve shot all of these subjects before with my old NX1, but the modified camera really does make a difference, it is especially noticeable in the shot of the California nebula.
Nelle
Stunning.Ā Thank you.Ā I hope you can get to some of the Dark Sky Reserves around the world.Ā But maybe you don’t need that
These photos are stunning.
š¾BillinGlendaleCA
@Nelle: It would be nice to see and shoot the sky in the Southern Hemisphere, but I’m pretty much resigned to just shooting in southern and central California.Ā Happy you like my shots.
Dagaetch
Beautiful. I’d be interested in doing more astrophotography if I lived closer to some dark sky areas.
š¾BillinGlendaleCA
@Dagaetch: Here is the light pollution map that I use: Light pollution map.Ā It can depend on which direction you are shooting, you can shoot from a green or yellow area on the map, but if you’re shooting towards a darker area, it can work well.Ā Malibu is pretty light polluted, but if you’re shooting to the south(open ocean), you can get a good shot.
kalakal
Wow! Those are great. I love the Pleiades and the Summer Triangle in particular. It’s espescially good to see those beautiful skies in the middle of a hurricane. Thank you!
J. Arthur Crank (fka Jerzy Russian)
Reflection nebulae tend to be blue since blue light (with its higher frequencies) scatters more easily than red light. Ā The Pleiades shows this nicely.
An emission nebula like the California Nebula is Ā composed of gas (mostly hydrogen) that is cooling. As electrons transition from higher to lower energy levels they emit photons with very specific wavelengths (e.g. colors). Ā For various reasons the transition from the third level to the second level happens frequently, which produces that nice red glow.
Finally, certain regions like the Orion Nebula contain a lot of ādustā that absorbs light. In this case the redder colors are less absorbed than the bluer colors. Ā At optical wavelengths one often sees dark patches where very few background stars can be seen. Images taken in infrared wavelengths will show most of the background stars.
J. Arthur Crank (fka Jerzy Russian)
@š¾BillinGlendaleCA: Ā South of the equator the Magellanic Clouds are pretty impressive, provided you are at a dark site like, for example, an observatory.
Kristine
Amazing photos!
Retired chemist me loved the light-filtering info.
š¾BillinGlendaleCA
@kalakal: Hope the hurricane isn’t treating you too bad, I like the Pleiades as well, nice blue nebulosity.
@J. Arthur Crank (fka Jerzy Russian): Yes, I’ve not tried shooting the sky in IR with this camera, but I think the IR that gets though the dust is a high wavelength than what the sensor will pick up.
@J. Arthur Crank (fka Jerzy Russian): I’ve seen photos(I follow a landscape astrophotographer down under) and processed the kid’s shots from New Zealand.
@Kristine: Happy to hear that, I was worried that it would be too much techie stuff.
FastEdD
I admire the devotion to modding your equipment! Any technical stuff like that is interesting to me even if that isnāt what Iām up to. I remember an old hiker friend devoted to removing every last ounce of weight from her equipment, even though Iām not a hiker.
One group of friends I belong to are āSalinersā-hot springs fanatics from Saline Valley. For years we would have 4th of July celebrations at Benton Hot Springs. Usually involving the potato gun contest, involving kegs of beer, innovative potato gun designs, dressing in drag or no clothes at all, and the Infamous Balls For Brunch the next day. Eating sheep testicles whilst you have a hangover. Yum. Not to be missed.
StringOnAStick
Your photos of the night skies always being that sense of wonder at what is out there beyond our tiny planet.
SkyBluePink
Spectacular!
Couldn’t pick a favorite they are all so awesome!
Joy in FL
I loved all the techie stuff. I don’t understand most of it.
I like being aware of how something that looks so simple and straightforward actually requires a lot of background work and knowledge.Ā Taking these photos is not “point and shoot,” and it’s good to be reminded of that. These take a lot of effort and knowledge and time, and I appreciate being able to look at the magnificence of our part of the universe because of the photos you share.
stinger
These pictures are just amazing. Thank you, Bill!
BigJimSlade
Great work!
š¾BillinGlendaleCA
@FastEdD: Most folk that shoot Astro will have a camera modified, you just can’t get the full color of the sky without it.Ā I’ve never been over to Benton Hot Springs, but I’ve been to Hot Creek which is not too far away.
@StringOnAStick: Thanks, I always look at NASA’s APOD for inspiration.
@SkyBluePink: Thanks, I’m kinda partial to the California nebula shot, especially compared to my previous efforts.Ā I’ll have more time to shoot the Orion nebula in the next few months.
š¾BillinGlendaleCA
@Joy in FL: Glad you found the techie stuff useful, I thought the shots needed some context as to what I was doing.Ā The process in the field is more point and shoot and shoot….
@stinger: Happy that you like them, it is my first effort with this camera, there’s been a bit of learning curve.
@BigJimSlade: Thanks.