Imagine The Milky Way

[vtrjames]

Hello all,

I'm a bit wet behind the ears when it comes to imaging stars and the Milky Way and as such I've been doing quite a bit of reading around about the subject. I recently posted on another forum (non-astro related) about the best time for imaging the Milky Way. To cut a long story short, my understanding was the best time to see the Milky Way in the northern hemisphere was around mid June. However, the reply stated that, infact, the best time to see it would be earlier on in the year which in turn has left me a little confused.

I'm fairly close to Craig Y Nos which is a dark sky site and as soon as we get a clear night I intend on heading over there armed with the camera and tripod but I'm a little by wary of doing so incase it is pointless. I've read contradicting statements stating that you can see the Milky Way all night and then elsewhere they have stated that it doesn't rise until about 0300; by which point I'd imagine you wouldn't have much time at all for imaging before the sun starts to come up.

Any help or an explanation as to which is right would be hugely appreciated.

James

[vtrjames]

Please can somebody edit the title for me so that it reads "Imaging The Milky Way".

James

[brantuk]

If you download Stellarium (free planetaria) and configure it for your observing location it will show you exactly where the Milky Way lies any time of the year. But generally - the darker the sky the easier it is to see - and the darkest nights occur mostly during the winter months (though some summer nights can be dark'ish enough to see it).

http://www.stellarium.org/en_GB/