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One of the most recognizable constellations in the night sky is Orion. and It is absolutely stunning. But after I spent some time shooting it from dark skies, I learned there is more to it than meets the eye. A short thread. #opteam #astrophotography #space
Our eyes do not perform well in low light, and do not pick up much in the "near infrared" portion of the visible spectrum. My camera, however, can. Look at everything that is revealed after just 18 minutes of shooting.
I annotated this image since it was too much to cover in one tweet. Everything from star forming regions, to supernova shockwaves, and even interstallar dust illuminated by nothing but starlight is visible in this pic. Along with millions of stars.
Here is the same image faded in from the recognizable constellation. By the way, anybody with a DSLR can take shots like this. It's a lot easier if you have a star tracker like this one but not required. https://optcorp.com/products/skywatcher-star-adventurer-photo-package-s20520?rfsn=3263299.a9cb76&utm_source=refersion&utm_medium=refersion
The image was stacked and calibrated to remove the effects of light pollution, as well as to increase the image contrast. All my raw data is available to patrons to those that want to play with it: https://www.patreon.com/ajamesmccarthy
Here's what a shot straight out of camera looks like.
Here's what a shot straight out of camera looks like.
Due to popular demand- this is now available as a print here: https://www.imagekind.com/art/orion-at-mmart_art?IMID=737a47ed-c162-4715-990f-ca7bcadb9331
