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Star Falls

The Rhine Falls with its width of 150m and a hight of 23m is the largest waterfall in Europe. The night I took this image, it had a flow rate of 25'000 cu ft/min.

 

Unfortunately, not only these figures are spectacular, but also the light pollution, caused by the bright lights along the promenade and the nearby town of Schaffhausen. Furthermore, the city of Zurich and its brightly lit airport are situated less than 20 miles to the south.

 

That's why, despite living just 40min from this iconic place, I never thought about shooting Milky Way nightscapes at the Rhine Falls. After all, you cannot capture the elusive Milky Way from this Bortle 5 site, shooting towards Bortle 6 skies.

 

Really? Last week I decided to give it a try anyway. The only thing I had to lose was a nights sleep.

 

My first images did not look very promising, but I decided to wait a bit longer. At 1 a.m., when most street lights in Switzerland are extinguished, I immedately noticed a pronounced darkening of the skyglow and with the help of my light pollution filter I was able to capture this image.

 

What I had considered a 'mission impossible' turned into a pretty successful nightscape session.

 

What is the brightest place from which you were able to capture the Milky Way?

 

Prints available:

ralf-rohner.pixels.com

 

EXIF

Canon EOS 6D astro modified

Sigma 35mm f1.4 ART

iOptron SkyTracker Pro

nachtlicht° light pollution filter

 

3 panel vertical panorama

Sky:

2 panels, each 8 x 40s @ ISO1600 f/2.8, tracked

Foreground:

1 panel of 8 x 20s @ ISO1600

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27 comments
Uploaded on July 11, 2019
Taken on July 5, 2019