2016 Nov. 18 ~ The Milky Way in Cassiopeia & Perseus

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Photographed at Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada

(285 km by road north of Toronto)

* Temperature 11° C.

 

* Total exposure time: 8 minutes.

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Description:

 

The familiar "W" shape of the bright stars in the constellation Cassiopeia rides high in the northern hemisphere autumn and winter sky, with our home galaxy, the Milky Way, running through it and down into the constellation Perseus.

 

Many large and bright nebulae (hydrogen gas clouds) appear in this area of the sky, along with numerous gravitationally bound open clusters of stars.

 

Above centre are the bright red hydrogen gas clouds known as the "Heart" and "Soul' Nebulae. For a close-up view of the Heart Nebula made with a 540 mm focal length telescope on the same evening, click here:

www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/31079231531

 

For a version of this photo WITH labels, click on the right side of your screen, or click here:

www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/30406597543

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Technical information:

 

Sigma 50 mm f/1.4 DG HSM ART lens on Nikon D810a camera body, mounted on Astrophysics 1100GTO equatorial mount with a Kirk Enterprises ball head

 

Eight stacked frames; each frame:

50 mm focal length

ISO 2500; 1 minute exposure at f/4; unguided

(with LENR - long exposure noise reduction)

 

Subframes registered in RegiStar;

Stacked and processed in Photoshop CS6 (brightness, contrast, levels, colour balance, colour desaturation)

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Done