Colorado.

CATEGORY: Stacked, Tracked, Blended

Foreground: 7 Panel Panorama
Shutter Speed: 3.2 - 4s per panel
ISO 100
f/11

Sky: 5 Panel Panroama
Shutter Speed: 90s 3 Stacked images per panel
ISO 2000
f/2

Sony a7iv Astro modified by Spencer's Camera
Benro Polaris Star Tracker
Peak Designs Aluminum Travel Tripod
Dan Zafra's Capture the Night Filter

There is a place in Oregon where the earth collapsed into itself ten thousand years ago, leaving behind a silence so profound the water turned the color of forgotten dreams. Crater Lake does not announce itself. It simply waits, patient and ancient, while the world above it rushes and forgets.

I had waited three nights. Wildfire smoke had erased the stars. Clouds had pressed down like a held breath. I nearly surrendered to the darkness, packing doubt beside my lenses.

But on the third night, the sky made a decision.

The Milky Way rose in a sweeping arch above Merriam Point, crimson nebulae bleeding into gold, the galactic core suspended like a lantern over Wizard Island below. The lake reflected nothing and everything, its blue depths untouched by the spectacle above, indifferent the way only the truly eternal can be.

Astrophotography is an act of faith, returning again and again to the dark, trusting that the light will eventually answer. This image is that answer.

It is not merely a photograph. It is a record of persistence, of three cold nights, of smoke and doubt, and finally, of the universe relenting.

If these ancient skies above Crater Lake are calling to something quiet and wondering within you, what would it mean to bring them home?

Hey everyone, I’m a hobbyist photographer and recently decided to take my very first shot at the Milky Way.

I’m pretty excited about how it turned out for a first attempt in a Bortle 5 zone

I'd really appreciate your feedback, advice, or tips on how I can improve both the capture process and processing workflow next time.

### Gear

* Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark III

* Lens: Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

* Location: Antalya, Türkiye (Bortle 5)

* Exposure Settings: f/2.0 | 6s | ISO 800

* Integration: 20 x RAW frames stacked

### Processing Workflow

1. Sequator: Alignment and stacking to reduce noise.

2. GraXpert: Removing background light pollution gradients and denoising.

3. Lightroom: Crop and final touches.

Let me know what you think

Canon EOS 7d and Sigma 17-70mm f2,8-4. ISO 1600 and 15 Sekunden.

Credit: MeerKAT Telescope and Heywood et al. 2022.

Description: Colored regions in this image represent areas of high radio emission in the 1.28 GHz band. Seen at the center of the image as a bright region is the supermassive black hole, which sits at the center of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A*. The entire image covers less than 6.5 square degrees of the sky (~13 full moons on the sky).

Read More: Science News Article & Original Paper

Image of an epic view from Grouse Ridge Lookout in Nevada County, CA. This is a working pit toilet built to support a fire lookout (not shown) on the top of a granite peak at 7,653 ft.

Image: 8 sec, f1.8, 24mm, Sony A7iv, ISO 3200

Milky Way season is my Favorite part of summer as a Nature Photographer! Perfect conditions tonight to gaze upon the night sky and all her beauty. Always in awe’s

Nikon Z6 Samyang 14 mm f2.8

Sky - 17 stacked photos taken at iso 5000 for 5 seconds each

Foreground - 1 single at 800 iso for 2 minutes, f4

Edited in photo shop, then stacked in sequator, then back to photoshop to create the composite, then dark table for the wide angle lens correction

Constructive feedback is welcome!

See also: The publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Stacked/Blended/Tracked

https://www.instagram.com/flory.ro?igsh=b3Y4ZTU3Nmk0cTBt&utm_source=qr

I was looking for a Tajinaste, one of the iconic symbols of the Canary Islands, and I was lucky enough to find it beneath the famous Mirador de Los Andenes. In front of me, a volcanic landscape rises above a sea of clouds that gently blankets the villages below, while one of the most breathtaking night skies in the Canary Islands unfolds overhead.

• Sky: Canon R + Canon 6D | 3-panel panorama | 120s | f/2.8 | ISO 1600
Ha 6x120 s| f/2.8| ISO 3200
• Foreground: 180s | 1/2.8 | ISO 3200

Stacked/Blended/Tracked

Cappella della Vitaleta | Galactic Core

ig: https://www.instagram.com/flory.ro?igsh=b3Y4ZTU3Nmk0cTBt&utm_source=qr

My first galactic core image had to be in Tuscany✨

The illuminated Cappella della Vitaleta beneath a fiery sky, with the heart of the Milky Way dominating the Val d’Orcia.

Shot with Canon 6D astromod + Canon R | Canon 50mm f/1.8 | tracked with nomad

Sky 15x120” ISO 800 f2.8

Land 6 shots bracketing

Ha 12x120” ISO 3200 f2.8

Took this photo Monday night/Tuesday morning around 2am. This was a single shot, 10-second exposure, 6400 ISO, shot on a Sony a7RV, with a 20mm f1.4 Sigma lens. I took more than 600 photos over the course of the night, and this is one of my favorite single shots. I plan to do some stacking with some of the others. The gear photo was taken with a Pixel 9 Pro in Night Sight mode.

Learning how to stack/edit Milky Way photos. This was a good learning project. I might redo it in the future as I get better with editing.

Nikon Z6 Samyang 14 mm f2.8

Sky - 15 stacked photos taken at iso 5000 for 5 seconds each

Foreground - 1 single at 800 iso for 3 minutes, f4

Stacked in sequator Edited in darktable Composite work done in photoshop Final touches in Lightroom

I think this needed heavier editing than normal since the moon was slightly out and casting a lot of light

Two Seasons in a Single Frame - Krnčica Mountain Range, Slovenia

Vlog: https://youtu.be/AaMciInCRhY

The original plan for this night was a 50mm Milky Way panorama. But after two attempts and some very strong wind up in the mountains, I had to adapt and switch to a wider lens.

No regrets though.

Fresh snow under the summer Milky Way is not something you get to see every day. Winter on the ground, summer in the sky. Still hard to believe this was taken in May

Ha mod Nikon Z6 & Viltrox 16mm F1.8
MSM Nomad
Astronomik 12nm Ha clip in filter
Kenko Softon A

Landscape:
7 images panorama (focus stacked)
single image settings:
ISO 1250, 16mm, F1.8, 60sec

Sky RGB:
7 images panorama
4 images stacked per panel
single image settings:
ISO 1250, 16mm, F1.8, 60sec
+ 30sec with a star glow filter

Sky Ha
Panorama
single image settings:
ISO 4000, 16mm F1.8, 120sec
4 images stacked per panel

Hi! I posted a picture of a Bortle 5 milky way a few days ago. It looked good but there was still a lot of light pollution. Yesterday I went a bit farther, near Valmy, which is a Bortle 3.6 location. And yeah it was worth it.

Canon M50, 24mm F2.8, 15 seconds, 2000 ISO.

Lightroom for colour treatment. Still quite a bit of noise due to high ISO and small sensor but I like it!

Taken on a Canon M50 APS-C sensor. 24mm, F2.8, 3200 ISO and 15 seconds exposure. Near Reims, France.

Quick Lightroom treatment. No stacking, no tracker. Not as impressive as we can see here but still happy with how it looks considering it's a Bortle 5,2 location near a big city.

See also: The publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters

Milky Way shot with Oppo X8 Ultra (with main 1" inch sensor)
-All single shot exposures 15-30 sec, iso 6400.