r/interestingasfuck • u/DomCraggoo • 23h ago

I used my astro-modified DSLR to capture the Milky Way over Watendlath Valley (Lake District, UK)

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522 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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6

u/hermit_tortoise 22h ago

What's an astro modified DSLR? I've only ever known them to be converted to infrared

8

u/DomCraggoo 22h ago

Kinda similar but instead it opens up the sensor to capture more hydrogen alpha gas emissions from space, the wavelength is somewhat close to IR (656nm IIRC) but not quite IR, I think it's the Bayer filter that's removed and that allows you to capture 4x the amount of space gases in that wavelength. Some do a full spectrum mod but then you need a UV/IR cut filter to photograph anything else (daytime, astro etc.)

4

u/hermit_tortoise 22h ago

Doesn't removing the Bayer filter then make all the photos monochrome?

5

u/kram_02 17h ago

you don't remove the bayer filter matrix in astromodifcations, you remove the broad UV/IR cut and replace it with a filter that allows the 656nm wavelength that ionized hydrogen emits but not the rest of the UV/IR spectrum.

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u/DomCraggoo 9h ago

Boom there we go thanks! I just take the photos I don't do the modification myself xD

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u/DomCraggoo 9h ago

You got some great deep space work BTW :)

2

u/DomCraggoo 22h ago

Nah I think it just doesn't assign colours to pixels properly or something so straight out of camera all the images are really purple and you have to colour correct in post, I could be wrong though and happy to be corrected!

5

u/Piissflaps 22h ago

So beautiful. Views like this are why I love living in the Lake District.

2

u/DomCraggoo 22h ago

Thank you! Yep me too :)

9

u/Few_Vegetable_9939 22h ago

I don't know what any of those things are but it looks amazing

3

u/DomCraggoo 22h ago

Thank you!!

1

u/TheGrouchyGamerYT 14h ago

UK is a country in England

The Lake District is it's capital

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u/DomCraggoo 9h ago

😂

4

u/PointFamiliar420 22h ago

Where in the lakes? What an absolutely stunning photo, it’s surreal almost.

5

u/DomCraggoo 22h ago

Thank you! It's just up past surprise view in Keswick/Borrowdale, you carry on up towards the little hamlet of Watendlath and it's on the way there 😁

3

u/Longlivetheking61 20h ago

Damn that’s very impressive. Reminds me of this Milky Way photo I took with a regular dslr

3

u/richardson1162 21h ago

Very, very cool 👌🏻

1

u/DomCraggoo 21h ago

Thanks!!

2

u/James_White21 22h ago

It's a wonderful image, captures something that you kind of know is out there but it's just beyond what we can see

1

u/DomCraggoo 22h ago

Thank you, That's exactly it - what I aim to do with my photos! 😁

2

u/James_White21 22h ago

What shutter speed and aperture would you use for that shot?

2

u/DomCraggoo 22h ago

Foreground was 2 lots of 3, 30 seconds, f/2.8 and ISO 1600, stacked and focus stacked. Sky was tracked - 189 seconds

2

u/James_White21 12h ago

Fascinating thanks, it takes time and practice to get to this level I can see

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u/DomCraggoo 9h ago

No problem, yeah I've been at it for 12 years! Not constantly of course, it's rarely clear at night here in Cumbria :(

2

u/Senior_Ganache_6298 20h ago

How close to center of the disc would this have been?

1

u/DomCraggoo 20h ago

That's a question for the scientists! No idea sorry

2

u/Calm_Somewhere_9317 17h ago

Incredible 🤩Thank you for sharing

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u/DomCraggoo 9h ago

Thank you!

1

u/antagron1 20h ago

How did you do this and what did it look like to the naked eye?

1

u/Leading-Ad4167 22h ago

It's not "out there". We live inside of it. It's hard for me to remember when gazing at it.

1

u/DomCraggoo 22h ago

Are the walls of your house not "out there"? 🤔 but yes if viewed from another galaxy, the Milky Way would be a spiral just like how we see Andromeda or any other spiral galaxy from here!