Milky Way

[idcanyon]

I also like #3 -- shot in late evening -- where I see Aldebaran (the red "angry" eye of Taurus the Bull -- and the Taurus constellation (the "V" shape formation of stars in the extreme lower right corner of the frame just above the horizon), the Pleiades cluster, the Andromeda Galaxy, and the North American nebula.

You must have a lot of experience with this sort of stuff. I wish I could do more, enough to know the sky that well.

April, May & June the Milky Way is laying almost on the horizon after sunset and you have to wait many hours for it to rise high enough to photograph depending on atmospheric quality.

Speaking of April, May, June...here is an April shot at 4 AM in a prime location. The nearest tiny town in this direction is about 45 miles and the nearest town big enough to have a traffic light is 120 miles. I shot this one with a lesser Samsung NX1100 and the same 8mm f2.8 Rokinon lens. August is supposed to be prime for the Milky Way but I've found that the more horizontal aspect in the spring can really help the compositions.

 

[TCampbell]

Each day the Earth moves about 1º in it's orbit around the sun (360º in a circle ... 365 days in a year... so it's very close to 1º per day). But that means the sky is also shifted by 1º per night (vs. that same time the previous night). If you wait 6 hours (so the Earth has rotated 90º) you are actually seeing the sky with the stars we normally associated with the following season. In other words... the sky you see at 4am TONIGHT is the same sky that you would see at 10pm 91 days (1 full season) from now.

As for learning the stars... there are 88 official constellations and then a number of interesting shapes called "asterisms" which are not official constellations but often easier to spot. The "Big Dipper" is actually an "asterism" and not a "constellation".

Some of these constellations are "circumpolar" which means they are close enough to the north pole that they do not dip below the horizon and that means they can be seen every night of the year.

Those easy to learn circumpolar constellations and asterisms include:

1) The Big Dipper (part of the larger constellation "Ursa Major" -- the "Big Bear")
2) The Ursa Minor (aka the "Little Dipper" -- not an asterism because the stars for the Little Dipper and Ursa Minor are the same. There are no extra stars to learn.)
3) Cassiopeia (the queen from Greek mythology who boasts that her daughter, the princess Andromeda, is the most beautiful woman alive and even more beautiful than the Nereids -- goddesses associated with Neptune. This insults the gods and brings their wrath. If you've seen the movie "Clash of the Titans" then that's the same story (well... with some Hollywood artistic license. It varies a bit from the greek mythology version of the story a few times.)

Ok -- that's just three things to learn in the Northern sky and you're good for the entire year.

As for the view to the East, South, or West... those constellations change throughout the season. But really you just need to learn a "few" per season and you'll get pretty good at finding your way around the sky.

The current "fall" season constellations are all associated the story in mythology and they include:

1) Pegasus -- the winged horse (the hero, Perseus, flies on Pegasus to rescue the princess)
2) Andromeda -- the princess chained to the rock (she is being sacrificed to Cetus, the sea-monster/titan sent by Neptune to destroy the kingdom... unless they appease Neptune by sacrificing the princess. )
3) Perseus -- the hero who rescues Andromeda. He is pictured in the sky holding the head of the gorgon Medusa -- a creature so ugly with snakes for hair that anyone who gazes upon her will be turned into stone. Perseus had recently slain her and took her head so that he could use it defeat Cetus the sea-monster by showing him the head of Medusa and thus turning the sea-monster to stone and saving the kingdom (spoiler alert: Perseus wins!)

Also in the North (Circumpolar region) is Cepheus the King (husband of Cassiopeia) and but his stars are slightly dimmer and more difficult to spot from urban skies.

In the south there is also (harder to spot in urban skies) Cetus... the sea-monster/titan.

But really... just learn those easiest 6 constellations to spot.

Astronomers use some "star hopping" tricks so that we use stars and constellations which are very easy to spot and then identify pointer stars or star-hopping patterns that make it easier to find the next constellation, and so on.

After a while you get pretty good at it... and then you start learning where some of the most beautiful deep-space objects (nebulae, star clusters, galaxies, etc.) are hiding. After seeing these stars and constellations return for just a couple of years you tend to get pretty good at finding things.

You can get apps for smart-devices (phones & tablets) that make it really easy to find things in the sky. Some are free and some of the "paid" apps are pretty inexpensive. They use the GPS, compass, level, and gyros to figure out where you are pointing your device and show you that area of the sky to help identify objects.

 

[snerd]

......... You can get apps for smart-devices (phones & tablets) that make it really easy to find things in the sky. Some are free and some of the "paid" apps are pretty inexpensive. They use the GPS, compass, level, and gyros to figure out where you are pointing your device and show you that area of the sky to help identify objects.

I use and recommend Sky Guide. Magnificent app!!

Sent from my iPhone 6+ using Tapatalk Pro

 

[The_Pearl_Poet]

Very nice night images.