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2026 Oct. 5 ~ The Summer Triangle

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Photographed at Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada

(280 km by road north of Toronto), between 22.48 and 23.19 EDT

 

* Altitude of centre of frame at time of exposures: 48°

* Temperature 4° C.

 

* Total exposure time: 15 minutes

* 35 mm focal length lens

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Description:

 

Our home galaxy, the Milky Way, spans the Canadian sky high overhead in the northern hemisphere summer and into autumn. Dense clouds of stars are obscured in places by winding lanes of dark foreground gas. Many glowing red clouds of hydrogen gas are revealed in long exposure photographs.

 

The gossamer glow of the Milky Way, which most people never get to see in their lifetimes because of the light pollution thrown into the sky by modern cities, is a thrilling and awe-inspiring sight. But you need to get an hour or more out of the city to be treated to a dark enough sky that will reveal our glorious galaxy.

 

One of the most distinctive gas clouds is the aptly named "North America Nebula", at bottom left. For a close-up view of this nebula made with a 660 mm telescope 18 days before this image, click here:

www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/55543977624

 

For a version of this photo WITH LABELS, click on your screen to the RIGHT of the photo, or click here:

www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/55578571268

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Technical information:

 

Sigma 35 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

 

Fifteen stacked frames; each frame:

35 mm focal length

ISO 4000; 1 minute exposure at f/4.5; unguided

(with LENR - long exposure noise reduction)

 

Subframes registered in RegiStar;

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

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Uploaded on October 9, 2026