In the Sky

Looking up into the Milky Way, again through Scorpio but a dark sky and without the moon (see my earlier image). This is a stitched panorama of two images. What fascinated me, on viewing it, is that no fewer than five satellites/space junk items have left trails. Only one shows here (you'll need to view large), just above and left of Antares and slightly below the centre.

The brighter trail is the International Space Station, as it dims when heading into the earth's shadow. Viewed large it may be possible to see the trails of five other satellites. Those two light blurs are the Magellanic Clouds, themselves small satellite galaxies to the Milky Way.

Tonight's much hyped "Super blue blood moon", as it disappeared into eclipse, a collation of images. We were lucky that the cloud cleared just as the eclipse began. For those wanting EXIF details, the lower right image was taken at f11, 1/125 and ISO 400; the middle image at f8, 1/100 and ISO 800; the top left image at f5.6, 1/40 and ISO 3200. The camera is a Pentax K-1. Explored.

There were some spectacular sunsets during our stay in South Australia. A stitched panorama was needed to capture this one. Definitely best viewed large. Explored.

Six stitched images (vertical format) were needed to make this (about 180 degree) panorama of the Milky Way. In the middle of the bow are the Magellanic Clouds, two small satellite galaxies. Out on the right, a little evening mist is beginning to cover the lights of the local town. One to view large, maybe while listening to this. Explored.

A clear sky and a bright moon made an irresistible combination. Here's a matching musical link.

It's been a while since I posted a sunset. The thin deck of altocumulus made this one better than most.

A few days ago came a report that the Large Magellanic Cloud (that's it here) is likely to crash into the Milky Way in just 2 billion years! Hey, we were supposed to be safe from a collision for 8 billion years. Ooops! Better backup of all your more valuable images, just in case. :-) Taken using the Pentax 'astrotracer' on the K1. View on black, maybe while listening to this. Explored.

Today I flickered past another photo community I once visited often, and realised I hadn't posted this image here. In 2013, with Jupiter high and bright, I wanted a photo of Jupiter with its moons. It was easier said than done! Although I could get Jupiter, in long telephoto the long exposures needed for the moons resulted in significant motion blur. The only alternative was a very high ISO (12800 @ 1/50) which left Jupiter just a bright white circle. So I did the "HDR thing" and substituted a correctly exposed Jupiter image. Best viewed on black.