Monday, July 01, 2019

Milky Way Stitched Pano

This panorama is from the first set of images that I shot the other night.  It is made up from four rows by five columns.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to stitch it together, so I also shot the simpler two rows by 5 columns pano that I posted a day or two ago.
This one did turn out to be tricky to stitch together, but it is looking pretty good at this point.  The view of the constellations is the same as the previous pano, but this shot extends higher up into the sky, and I was closer to the huts.
Aquilla is at the left end of the Milky Way, and the Southern Cross with the dark Coal Sack nebula is at the right end of the Milky Way.
 
The pano is made from 21 images.  Each image is a stack of 9 frames for a total of 189 exposures.  The individual exposures were shot with a 35mm lens.  Each exposure was six seconds long, at f1.4 and IS0 6400.  I downsized this for posting online, but the original has enough pixels in it to print 25 by 43.5 inches at 300 dots per inch.  I'm not sure if I'll ever print it that big.  It is a little grainy and there is some chromatic aberration on the brighter stars.  I'll definitely print it myself at 13x19" though.
Hmmm, i just noticed some extra stars lurking in there. There are two Saturns, and a second bottom pair of the Teapot's handle. Will have to check that out...


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