Southern Skies Observing Bliss
with Sigma 8mm Fish Eye Lens

 

            
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 This is one
            of the most memorable images taken on our recent trip to the
            deep Outback of Australia, near the town of Winton. What you
            are seeing here is the magnificently dark and transparent August
            sky with the brilliant Milky Way arcing horizon to horizon, accompanied
            by a dazzling bright zodiacal light and band. But look closely
            at the lower right part of this shot, and you can see our stargazing
            friend Paul Tierney using his red night vision flashlight to
            study his star charts and contemplate the awesome sight which
            rotates over his head.

            
The red nebula
            on the left edge of the field in the Milky Way is Eta Carina.
            Jupiter is top center, and Vega on the right edge. Thank you
            Paul for making our trip down under the most memorable one ever!

Lens:  Sigma 8mm f/3.5 fish eye at f/5
Platform:  Robotic Barndoor II
Camera:  Hutech Modified Canon XTi @ ISO800
Exposure:  10m
Filters:  None
Location:  Winton, QLD, Australia
Elevation:  260 ft.
Sky:  Seeing  8/10, Transparency 9/10
Outside Temperature:  50F
Processing Tools:  Photoshop CS2, Maxim DSLR
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