In May, I captured a full arch Milky Way image at the Kolob Canyons section of Zion National Part. Here is the result.

The above image is a combination of three full sets of 220 degree panoramas, stitched and blended together then cropped to 180 degrees or so.

Each pano set is 24 images. The land is three focus-stacked images, 8-wide. The night images are three-stacked to reduce noise, focused at infinity.

A third set of 24 images captured a very specific and narrow band of red known as H-Alpha.

That’s 72 blended images in total to make the above image.

I was in a slightly different position for the land image, a bit closer to the trees. So, the merged panorama does not have full milky way clearance on the tree at the left.

Dealing with 250,000 Stars, Literally

My first night pano looks like this, tilted up to capture more of the sky and less of the land.

Here’s a blowup of one section

The program I use for merging the 3-image astro stacks tells me how many stars it finds. In one vertical panel (1/8 of the horizontal sequence) the count was over 44,000 stars.

This is a result of a super-fast lens and accurate tracking. You end up capturing more stars than you want. Some like all the stars. Most, including me, would rather see more of the Milky Way structure.

There are apps that will remove stars. They don’t do a perfect job, but I have a way of cleaning up errors.

The problem is adding back the stars you do want. There are several solutions, all with a learning curve and issues.

This is what a preliminary result looks like.

The H-Alpha pano sequence captures only red at a specific wavelength, blocking all other light.

It looks like this, captured at a different location.

The glow of the red nebulas stands out.

The trick is adding back only the desired H-Alpha nebulas not the background red color.

Working with H-Alpha Filters

H-Alpha filters block so much light they are near-impossible to focus in the field at night for Canon users. I eventually gave up trying.

Instead, I focus during the daytime on an object 35 miles away (a tiny part of Zion) that I can see from my backyard. Then I leave the camera turned on and tape down the lens so the focus does not shift.

Sony users have a night view in their camera allowing easier focus.

Blending in the H-alpha filter is another treat, and so is getting it aligned with the regular milky way shot. That’s two more learning processes (alignment and blending).

Working With Star Trackers

I use a Benro Polaris star tracker.

A star tracker is a device that rotates at he same speed as the Milky Way. If you use a tracker, you must take the land separately or the land will be blurry.

I generally take the land images after sunset in the blue hour so there is no direct light on the scene.

If you are considering getting a star tracker (or are simply interested in more details of what it takes to get a shot like like this), please see my article Astro Photography Tips and a Benro Polaris Star Tracker Review

My post also covers camera modifications and H-Alpha filters. You cannot capture any the H-Alpha emission without a specially modified camera.

Dan Zafra has some excellent courses and a review of the Benro Polaris. I link to his courses and review.

Please check it out.

I started working with the Benro Polaris in March. It was not until May that I was finally able to take images in the field using it. I lost many milky way night sessions struggling with it.

Are Star Trackers for You?

The answer mostly depends on your time commitment. Some of the learning curves are steep. There is hardware, software, and many apps to learn. But one does not need specially-modified cameras or H-alpha filters to benefit from a tracker.

So this is not an all at once, all or nothing, kind of thing.

I go over learning curve of the Benro Polaris, star trackers in general, camera modifications, and H-alpha filters in my review.

Related to the Benro Polaris, there are many Canon-Nikon issues that Sony users don’t have. I also go over those issues and solutions in my post.

Equipment

These images were taken with an exceptionally fast RF-mount 20 MM F1.4 Canon lens at F 2.0 (F1.8 for the H-alpha set) on a modified R5 camera.

It’s one of Canon’s best lenses ever, and a nice compromise between 14MM and 20MM for taking wide-angle panoramas.

14MM makes backgrounds too small for my tastes, and 24 is a tad too narrow.

Even at F1.4, focusing with the H-Alpha filter is very difficult.

Those interested in my equipment and recommendations can find it here: Mish’s Equipment List.

My next set of posts will be more Milky Way images. I have some from Bryce Canyon and Escalante.

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