This is an 11x17 crop from an original stack of 30 images. The 30 original camera images are each 1-minute exposures taken with a tripod-mounted Canon 20D equipped with a 16-35mm Series L lens set at 16mm focal length, f/2.8, ISO 3200. All was well at the beginning of the exposure sequence. However, a few minutes into the image acquisition, the camera lens began fogging. Since I had used a remote shutter release set to take the 30 1-minute long images, pausing only 1 second between shots, I had left the camera unattended. As a result of the fogging, the later images are more diffused. However, upon stacking the images with the program Image Stacker, I was pleasantly surprised that the fogging effect apparently enhanced the color spectrum of the stars. The camera was pointed in the vicinity of Cassiopeia, and the brighter cluster of streaks near the lower right hand part of the cropped image is actually the Pleiades, or The Seven Sisters, Messier M45. M31, the Andromeda Galaxy is visible in each of the original images, although slightly sharper in the earlier ones because of the moisture accumulation on the lens surface. With the camera lens set to 16mm focal length, M31 appears very tiny, but it is apparent nonetheless.
Images were taken at Lake Cachuma on the evening of November 18th, 2006, starting at 9:12 p.m. PST. While waiting for the Leonid Meteor Shower to appear, I decided to set up my camera and tripod to try to capture something. Although I only saw 1 or 2 very short meteor streaks, some friends I was with saw probably more than a dozen in the time we were there. They were fortunate enough to be lying still, while I was moving around and only occasionally looking at the sky. Unfortunately, I have not found one Leonid streak in any single image I captured that evening – bummer! But, at least the weather was very warm, and the sky dark enough that the Milky Way was instantly visible shortly after 6:00 p.m. PST. It was a very enjoyable evening overall.
Lake Cachuma is accessible from Highway 154, and is inland from Santa Barbara, California. Because of the dark skies close to home (approximately 100 miles one-way), I definitely want to return with a telescope that’s tracking to get some better pictures. However, I was very pleased with these results, despite the dampness that crept into the images. Enjoy!
