Successful Failure [Explored]

During my last Los Angeles layover, I wanted to photograph a Space X Falcon 9 launch from this ridge in the Los Padres National Forest. By late afternoon, after I had already reached the site, I learned that the launch had been rescheduled for July 12, which means it became the first failed Falcon 9 launch since 2016.

 

To avoid completely failing my own "mission", I decided to stay overnight and try to capture some Milky Way nightscapes. Since I was about halfway between Vandenberg Space Force Base and Los Angeles, I expected heavy light pollution. I chose a vantage point below the mountaintop where there were no trees in the way and where I hoped the ascending ridge would block out some of the light pollution. I wasn't sure if the whole endeavor was worth the effort, but you can't win if you don't try...

 

After dark, I was happy to see the Milky Way with the naked eyes and my test shots proved that it was possible to tame the light dome from the nearby megacity. The real surprise, however, came in post-processing, when I realized how much detail I had actually captured in the sky.

 

After all, I call this a pretty successful failure and I am quite sure that I will revisit the area, be it with or without the added bonus of a possible rocket launch.

 

EXIF

Canon EOS-R, astro-modified by Richard Galli from EOS 4Astro

Sigma 28mm f/1.4 ART

IDAS NBZ filter

iOptron SkyTracker Pro

 

Sky:

Vertical panorama of 2 panels, each a stack of 10x 45s @ ISO800, unfiltered & 5x 105s @ ISO3200, filtered

 

Foreground:

Focus stacked vertical panorama of 2 panels, each 6x 3.2s @ ISO200 during blue hour.

Done