Planning ahead...
Heading to the desert this weekend, and not sure what would be the best target. Had been thinking of getting a Milky way timelapse, but with a waxing gibbous moon not idea conditions to capture it, although would be good practice for framing and getting the holy grail settings right etc.
…for future reference…
🌕 12th May - Full moon
🌗 20th May - Last quarter
🌑 27 May - New Moon
Other options are some moon photography, and/or targeting some brighter DSOs. It’s all good practice, and ultimately the journey is as important as the destination! I did look at getting a narrowband filter, but not cheap so something else for the one-day kit list. Some DSOs which are apparently bright enough to still be good targets with a bright moon are below with some notes:
May 9th: Sunset: 6:55pm, Astronomical Twilight ends: 8:18pm
Potential DSO targets
| Target | Location | Best Time | Recommended Settings | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M13: Hercules Cluster | NNE @ 8pm, high | 8pm-2am | ISO 800-1600, 30-60s, f/5.6-6.3 | Compact and bright, benefits from the long focal length. Should resolve some core detail. |
| M8: Lagoon Nebula | SE, low until 11pm | 11pm-2am | ISO 800-1600, 30-60s, f/5.6-6.3 | Lower in the sky, watch for atmospheric distortion. Use shorter exposures if wobbling. |
| M44: Beehive Cluster | W, high at 8pm, sets by midnight | 8pm-11pm | ISO 800-1600, 30-60s, f/5.6-6.3 | Large and spread out, so may fill (much of) frame. |
| M5: Serpens Cluster | EES @ 8pm, high all night | 8pm-3am | ISO 800-1600, 60-120s, f/5.6-6.3 | Bright, compact, and high in the sky, so should handle longer exposures well. |
| NGC 5139: Omega Centauri | SSE @ 8pm, low until 1:30am | 8pm-1:30am | ISO 800-1600, 30-60s, f/5.6-6.3 | Huge, bright, but low altitude means atmospheric distortion. Try 30s to reduce blur. |
General notes:
- Tracking alignment going to be really important. Maybe brush up on that.
- Over 1600 ISO likely to be too noisy.
- Lower objects will have more atmospheric disturbance (wobble)
- Bahtinov would be really handy (still dont have one)
Possible sequence:
- M13 (Hercules Cluster) - Early, while it’s high and bright.
- M44 (Beehive Cluster) - Before it sets around midnight.
- M5 (Serpens Cluster) - High all night, so good for a longer session.
- Omega Centauri & M8 - maybe skip as low?
Could also be an opportunity to find some constellations. It’s something I really wanted to learn back at the beginning, but with moving somewhere that requires travelling for a good night sky, it’s taken a bit of a back
| Constellation | Rising | Brightest Star/Feature | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scorpius (The Scorpion) | Southeast after sunset | Antares (red supergiant) | One of the most striking constellations, with a long, curving tail that looks great in wide-angle shots. |
| Sagittarius (The Archer) | Southeast, just after Scorpius | Teapot asterism | This is where the core of the Milky Way sits, though it’ll be a bit washed out. |
| Lyra (The Harp) | High in the east | Vega (part of the Summer Triangle) | Easy to spot and a great focus for wide fields. |
| Hercules | High in the east | M13, the Hercules Globular Cluster | Not as bright as others, but the cluster is a good long lens target. |
| Cygnus (The Swan) | Rising in the northeast | Deneb (part of the Summer Triangle) | Contains the North America Nebula (NGC 7000), but this will be hard to capture with the bright moon. |
Then also the Moon and Jupiter. Mars up too but bit small maybe? Jupiter setting quite early might mean I could get it with desert in the foreground? Get in some jupiter practice before the next opposition in January.
| Target | Location | Starter Setting Thoughts |
|---|---|---|
| Moon | SE 8pm rising. Sets ~4am SWW | 100-400mm lens (@400mm). ISO 100-200, f/8, 1/250 to 1/500s (experiment?). Tracker not needed? Although... could do one of those shots where the moon stays still and the earth moves? |
| Jupiter | WNW 8pm and low. Sets by 9:30pm | Jupiter alone: 400mm lens, ISO 800-1600? 1/60-1/200s With foreground: ISO: 400-800, ~5secs |
Tip
Using Livesky (sky safari web) or Stellarium was super helpful for planning, as was the Lumos app.
Note
Chucking notes, no matter how scrappy, and whether hand written (photos of) or typed into ChatGPT is such a quick way to get turned into a neat table with the html/md done for you 🙂
Also - another thought was doing an Earth rotation timelapse. Requires perfect alignment so maybe not idea - but one I could do in an area with more light pollution in future maybe?
Lastly, and for some reason often forgotten though one of the things I love doing - astro landscapes!
Videos to watch at some point
“How to Photograph Jupiter and its Moons With A Foreground Subject”