# The Milky Way from last night **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 9, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391 "2015-08-09T17:48:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391/1 "2015-08-09T17:48:26Z")
[http://cl.ly/image/1C0w460G1g26](http://cl.ly/image/1C0w460G1g26) A friend and I went to a spot around 70 miles from Phoenix (15 miles outside of Wickenburg) to take some Milky Way photos last night. I think this one turned out nicely. Almost every photo had meteor trails in it - must be the precursor to the Perseids. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391/2 "2015-08-09T18:44:27Z")
Cool! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391/3 "2015-08-09T18:55:58Z")
WHOA! Gorgeous! ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391/4 "2015-08-09T18:56:35Z")
I presume it’s looking at the center of the galaxy, it gives a sense of perspective to our place in the universe, pretty cool. Is that city light on the bottom left or there was still some sunlight left? ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391/5 "2015-08-09T19:01:28Z")
Very lovely! Makes me pine for going to Eastern Washington with Pops to see the Persieds. City dwellers have no idea how gorgeous the night sky is once you get away from all the man-made lights. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391/6 "2015-08-09T19:09:15Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > I presume it’s looking at the center of the galaxy, it gives a sense of perspective to our place in the universe, pretty cool. > > Is that city light on the bottom left or there was still some sunlight left? Yes. the photo is pretty much looking at the dust clouds that hide the center of our galaxy. [If you look hard enough you can see a small hexagonal array of fusion-drive ships.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protector_(novel)) 🙂 As for the glow… Yeah, that’s Phoenix… It’s a sad fact that even in the great, wide-open West, it’s very, very hard to find a location without significant sky glow. Even national parks like Zion have skyglow at the horizon due to the surrounding towns. I want to take a trip to Monument Valley with the express purpose of taking some Milky Way photos - I’m using a cool open-source program called Stellarium to determine what time of year will be best (when the Milky Way is in the best location, and the Moon isn’t up). I’m hoping it will be pretty dark, but there are a number of small towns surrounding the park. [Here’s](http://darksitefinder.com/maps.html) how I choose a location. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391/7 "2015-08-09T19:16:37Z")
Really lovely. Looks like you captured a satellite in transit too, about halfway between the top of the tree and the top edge. What kit/settings did you use? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391/8 "2015-08-09T19:22:46Z")
I’d like to know your camera settings, also. We’re headed to a star party next week for the Perseids, weather permitting. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391/9 "2015-08-09T19:23:21Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Really lovely. Looks like you captured a satellite in transit too, about halfway between the top of the tree and the top edge. > > What kit/settings did you use? This was a test of two new items for me. 1. A Nikon D7200 body. I bought the body to replace my D90. The D7200 was supposed to have significantly better low-light capability, and I’m happy with it so far. 2. A Samyang 16mm f/2.0 lens. This is a manual-focus lens that was rated very highly for Astrophotography. It is fast (f/2), and also extremely sharp, with low coma in the edges. I think it performed well. I wish it was a bit wider, but oh, well. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391/10 "2015-08-09T19:28:55Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I’d like to know your camera settings, also. We’re headed to a star party next week for the Perseids, weather permitting. This photo was taken at ISO 6400, 15 seconds, f/2.5, 16mm lens. But, I got good results at ISO 1600, too. For Meteor photos, you can take exposures for as long as the camera will let you - the longer the shutter stays open, the more you will capture. The longer exposures will start to create circular star trails (you start to get trails with any exposure longer than 30 seconds, with a wide lens). If your camera has the option, turn on “Long Exposure Noise Reduction.” This will double your shooting time, but will reduce the effect of “hot” pixels. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391/11 "2015-08-09T19:58:04Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > This photo was taken at ISO 6400, 15 seconds, f/2.5, 16mm lens. > > But, I got good results at ISO 1600, too. For Meteor photos, you can take exposures for as long as the camera will let you - the longer the shutter stays open, the more you will capture. The longer exposures will start to create circular star trails (you start to get trails with any exposure longer than 30 seconds, with a wide lens). > > If your camera has the option, turn on “Long Exposure Noise Reduction.” This will double your shooting time, but will reduce the effect of “hot” pixels. Need to find my instruction book, as I’ve never taken open-shutter shots with it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391/12 "2015-08-09T20:15:20Z")
This is why you need to move to Montana, which is literally in the middle of nowhere. Not only are there no major cities in Montana, there aren’t even any major cities in any of the states or provinces bordering Montana. I recommend Lewis and Clark National Forest for true dark-sky observing (our local astronomy club used to have annual star parties there). ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391/13 "2015-08-09T20:33:12Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > It’s a sad fact that even in the great, wide-open West, it’s very, very hard to find a location without significant sky glow. Even national parks like Zion have skyglow at the horizon due to the surrounding towns. I want to take a trip to Monument Valley with the express purpose of taking some Milky Way photos - I’m using a cool open-source program called Stellarium to determine what time of year will be best (when the Milky Way is in the best location, and the Moon isn’t up). I’m hoping it will be pretty dark, but there are a number of small towns surrounding the park. Tyler Nordgren’s [Stars Above, Earth Below: A Guide to Astronomy in the National Parks](http://www.amazon.com/Stars-Above-Earth-Below-Astronomy/dp/1441916482) discusses this and highlights the best locations in US National Parks to get the best low ambient light conditions including luminosity maps from artificial sources. Most of Nevada, southeastern Oregon, central Idaho, northern Montana, southern Utah, and parts of New Mexico and Nebraska are the best sites for clear sky viewing. The eastern half of the United States is pretty useless for this, especially the Detroit-Chicago-Milwaukee horseshoe around Lake Michigan and the entire Eastern Seaboard. I’m still working my way through it, but what I’ve read so far also makes it one of the best practical introductions to astronomy and planetology. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391/14 "2015-08-09T20:45:18Z")
Nice Pic! Sad but true: Pretty much EVERYWHERE east of the Mighty Miss River does NOT have truely dark skies. There are literally only about a half dozen SMALL pockets of darkness left…but even those are probably only about a 9 out a 10 at best darkness wise. Even the wild west has less truely dark skies than one would think at first. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391/15 "2015-08-09T21:04:09Z")
[Here](http://www.sierranaturenotes.com/naturenotes/NALightPollution.htm) is a map of artificial sky brightness from 1950 through the projection to 2025. The current brightness map as of 2010 (not shown here but can be found in Nordgren’s book) is about right in the middle of between the 1997 data and 2025 prediction. Western and Central Europe is even worse; the only decent places to do astronomy are in Ireland and some inland parts of Spain. And the sad part is that it is really easy to reduce light pollution while increasing energy efficiency; almost all of the visible radiation that leaks to the sky and results in scattering is wasted energy as less than 10% comes from ground-reflected illumination. Simply capping or directing streetlights and other functional illumination, as well as placing reasonable limitations on ambient and decorative lighting could reduce light pollution by close to an order of magnitude and reduce energy usage for exterior lighting by a similar factor. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391/16 "2015-08-09T21:09:28Z")
IMHO, the predominant cause of skyglow is vanity. That is, upward-facing lights illuminating signs and buildings, for no particular purpose other than self-promotion. There is some hope, though. LED fixtures are inherently directional, and are making rapid inroads in commercial and public lighting. With any luck, these will tend to cut wasteful light spill. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391/17 "2015-08-09T21:51:11Z")
Beautiful shot, Beowulff! This is a part of photography I’ve not really tried yet. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391/18 "2015-08-09T22:18:51Z")
> [@campp](#): > > Beautiful shot, Beowulff! This is a part of photography I’ve not really tried yet. Thank you. Even though some people bemoan the passing of Silver photography, Digital is the cat’s meow when it comes to Astrophotography! There’s no guessing as to exposure - you can see exactly what you are getting on the back of your camera. I’m hoping that I live long enough to see another good comet - I took photos of Hayakutake and Hale-Bopp, and they both came out pretty good, but I’m sure that I could do much, much better with a modern Digital camera. So, get a tripod, find a dark location - and just play! ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2015, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391/19 "2015-08-09T23:45:31Z")
Amazing!. Thank you for sharing. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2015, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391/20 "2015-08-10T00:06:45Z")
We like our night sky dark here. In fact, there is now a [law](http://www.adirondackcouncil.org/page/press-releases-16/news/governor-signs-dark-skies-bill-into-law-561.html) to keep it that way. Gorgeous photo. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-from-last-night/727391.md?page=2)