Star Trails

I just wanted to show off a picture I took for a discussion elsewhere, thought some of you might enjoy this.

I also need validation for all the hours I spent on this last night.



Not looking for any debate with this post, but feel free to take it to another forum if you wish.

Nice photo.

Though it clearly shows how the rest of the galaxy is flat as well.

I really like your picture!
Whats with the "perturbations", if you will, at the top and sides?

I really like your picture!
Whats with the "perturbations", if you will, at the top and sides?

You mean where the star trails shift a bit suddenly?  That's me bumping the camera while changing batteries.  Tried to be as careful as I could, but no help for it.  I've got a charger on order so it will be better next time as I can just leave it and not touch it at all.

Assuming I get another clear night.. that was the first one all year!

Quote from: faded mike on February 04, 2021, 11:59:54 PM

I really like your picture!
Whats with the "perturbations", if you will, at the top and sides?

You mean where the star trails shift a bit suddenly?  That's me bumping the camera while changing batteries.  Tried to be as careful as I could, but no help for it.  I've got a charger on order so it will be better next time as I can just leave it and not touch it at all.

Assuming I get another clear night.. that was the first one all year!

Were not getting many clear nights around here either.

Awesome photo. Could you share details of what equipment and what settings? Thanks!

Awesome photo. Could you share details of what equipment and what settings? Thanks!

Thanks!  I used an Olympus mirrorless body with a 20mm f1.7 lens at 200 iso, 30 second exposures taken over about 3 hours.  I was lazy and didn't remove the planes and some clouds, might do that at some point since I won't get another clear night for a while.

It was well below freezing so I had to shoot through a window, which surprisingly didn't affect the quality as badly as I feared.

Here's a crop of one frame showing Polaris.