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Southern Ophiuchus / Scorpius

Nightfly

By Nightfly
in Imaging - Deep Sky

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Nightfly

Nightfly

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I just spent several nights of the last dark run photographing this area with different films and lenses. I concentrated on the Scorpius / Ophiuchus regions as the summer may prevent further attempts due to weather conditions. Those will be back and posted here within a few weeks. Until then, here is a reprocessed image from April 2008 I've been playing with.

How Edward Emerson Barnard would have loved to have seen this region in color.

Southwest Sagittarius, Southern Ophiuchus, and northwestern Scorpius. Perhaps the most exciting area within the visible Milky Way. Full of bright and dark nebulae amongst the starclouds of our galaxy's central bulge.

Early morning, April 11, 2008. Pentax 67 with 105mm f/2.4 @ f/4 and 30 minutes exposure on Kodak E200 film push processed +2 stops. Film scanned on an Epson V600 and processed in Adobe PS and PixInsight.

5823072434_364f35b198_z.jpg

Our Milky Way Galaxy's Central Bulge by Nightfly Photography, on Flickr

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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Oh, that's stunning. Utterly gorgeous.

On this kind of target film has an awful lot going for it. This is a truly outstanding picture of what might be the best bit of sky visible from the Earth. What's your latitude?

I echo your sentiments on E.E. Barnard, a lovely man and a genius.

Olly

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Nightfly

Nightfly

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Hi Olly,

Thank you for the kind remarks. I could photograph this region forever. When I read Barnards remarks on this region, I feel as he did. In the 1913 Publications of the Lick Observatory, Barnard wrote:

"I do not think there is any other region of the heavens so extraordinary as this, about and in the immediate vicinity or rho Ophiuchi. One hesitates at any attempt to describe it. Perhaps even more remarkable than the nebulosities are the vacant lanes that run eastward from the great nebula, and those in the upper part are unreal."

When I shoot wide-field images like this with film, manually correcting as he did with a hand controller and illuminated reticle, I feel a kindred spirit to this great man. One must immerse themselves in both observation and photography to gain a better understanding of what they are seeing. Barnard was perhaps the best visual observer since Herschel and is without a doubt the father of Milky Way photography.

It is with reverence and awe that I find myself photgraphing these same regions that Barnard revealed to us for the first time some 100+ years ago.

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AndyUK

AndyUK

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Another stunningly beautiful image... Again it must have been so tricky using film (ie without liveview or an image appearing on a laptop!). I would love to see this from a dark site with the naked eye, let alone capture it on film (well, chip!).

(Olly - Maine is about 44 latitude, similar ish to yourself(?))

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Nightfly

Nightfly

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What's your latitude?

Olly

My apologies. Yes, 44.5 degrees North. My tree line at the observatory is approximately -30 degres declination. If I cut a few trees I can get down to -35 degrees perhaps. When I go portable I can get -40 degrees, but atmospheric extinction makes for poor imaging.

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Nightfly

Nightfly

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Another stunningly beautiful image... Again it must have been so tricky using film (ie without liveview or an image appearing on a laptop!). I would love to see this from a dark site with the naked eye, let alone capture it on film (well, chip!).

(Olly - Maine is about 44 latitude, similar ish to yourself(?))

Thank you! It's not so tricky. Once you know the behavior of emulsions, cameras and lenses, the sky, and exposure, one can get the job done without much difficulty. Of course, practice makes perfect and I have done hundreds of long exposures on film throughout the years. Clear, dark skies are a must for film work and I am fortunate enough to have such skies. So that makes these results less than typical for one wanting to try film. Beautiful work can be done if conditions are right and the methods sound.

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AndyUK

AndyUK

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Thanks for the explanation Jim - All I can say is that you must have great skill (and patience / committment) in manual guiding. I find it difficult enough setting up a Synguider to track consistently for 15 mins, let alone 30mins! Also dark skies in the UK are a rarity... :). I'm sure I can speak for many - If you have any more of these, we'd love to see them...!

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Nightfly

Nightfly

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First off, thanks to everyone else that chimed in; Rob, Tom, dc509, and Chris. The forums here on the other side of the pond are very friendly and I'm heartened by all your kind replies.

Olly, my roots go back to La Rochelle, late 1500's. I find my French sensibilities not to be part of the greater culture here in the USA. For my UK friends, you'll be happy to know I have a trace of British blood as well. Not that all this really matters, we are all Earthlings.

Andy, when I hand guide, I am referring to correction of tracking errors on my equatorial mount, so it's not the chore I may have given the impression it to be.

For those interested here is my setup:

Flanders Pond Observatory - a set on Flickr

It's a humble arrangement really. It's all old technology. The only thing new ironically is the film!

It takes a lot of heart to hang behind and watch the world pass you by in technology, but I have a drive and passion that keeps me going. I'm aware of the subtle qualities of my craft and carry it with a certain pride. I'm thrilled by all the great work done by all of you with digital gear. I enjoy the new, but I'm married to the old. It fits, it's me, and after thirty years of astronomy, I'm happy where I've landed. I hope you all will enjoy the images as I continue to post them.

Jim

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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Please, please do continue to post them.

Banard is a wonderful, pivotal figure, the last great genius at the EP and one of the first great geniuses at the camera.

I was hoping that you were south of me to make me feel better about not having done so well(!!!) but you are not! Bravo, a picture of rare merit and beauty.

Olly

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Nightfly

Nightfly

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Thank you all! Analog methods work particularly well for wide-field work if the right combination of camera, dark skies, and proper film are applied.

This being the brightest region in the Milky Way makes the job all the more easily done, but being so low on the horizon more than makes up the difference. Let's not even mention trying to block all the aircraft flying through the scene during exposure!

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