1st Trip to Dark Site - WOW

[starfield]

So, just took my rig out to a dark site on the Eastern Sierra's. After fighting light pollution in my urban SoCal skies, I was just blfrown away by the results I got. With that said, it was a totally different experience. A couple of fun observations.

1. Finding Polaris and guide stars is hard when the sky is filled with them! It's tough to even find some of the constellations.
2. Setting up is harder in the dark away from the comforts of home.
3. Clean data makes post processing so easy. The shot below of Andromeda required next to none. Ran it thru auto-dev in Sharpcap and aside from a green hue it was near perfect. About 30 minutes in StarTools and I was "done".
4. You can grab a good shot in less time. I took the shot of Andromeda as a quick pick up. I had about 30 minutes left before I had to pack up. Figured I'd just shoot something bright...
5. Next time I'm bringing a fold up lounge chair so I can just lay back and stare up at the sky during the imaging run and watch for shooting stars.

Here's shot of Andromeda. 30 frames, 120 gain, 45 second on ASI294mcpro

[JayTee]

Wow is right. Would you like to reveal where in the eastern Sierras you went?

Most of the time, I measure my observing year by how many times I made it out to a dark site. I just got back from one of mine last week and I miss it already.

Thanks for a great report, and all of the points you brought up are spot-on for a really dark site.

Cheers,
JT

[Don Quixote]

Thank you Starfield for this fun report. The first time I saw a sky filled with stars at a good dark site I felt the confusion in the chaos as well. It was overwhelming the first time.

You have captured a nice image of Andromeda!
Thanks again.

[helicon]

Nice report - thanks. And great that you could get out to some dark skies.

[Markmjm]

Beautiful picture.

[starfield]

So, just took my rig out to a dark site on the Eastern Sierra's. After fighting light pollution in my urban SoCal skies, I was just blfrown away by the results I got. With that said, it was a totally different experience. A couple of fun observations.

1. Finding Polaris and guide stars is hard when the sky is filled with them! It's tough to even find some of the constellations.
2. Setting up is harder in the dark away from the comforts of home.
3. Clean data makes post processing so easy. The shot below of Andromeda required next to none. Ran it thru auto-dev in Sharpcap and aside from a green hue it was near perfect. About 30 minutes in StarTools and I was "done".
4. You can grab a good shot in less time. I took the shot of Andromeda as a quick pick up. I had about 30 minutes left before I had to pack up. Figured I'd just shoot something bright...
5. Next time I'm bringing a fold up lounge chair so I can just lay back and stare up at the sky during the imaging run and watch for shooting stars.

Here's shot of Andromeda. 30 frames, 120 gain, 45 second on ASI294mcpro
andromedadarkskysmall.jpg

I was at Tuttle Creek in the Alabama Hills by Lone Pine. Was going to try for Grandview campground in the White Mountains, but it was going to be too cold up at that altitude (19 degrees).

[Juno16]

Super nice M31!

I’ve never been to a dark site to image, but it sure sounds amazing. In my backyard, Polaris is the lone star in the area and is pretty dim at that!

Hard to make out constellations! Wow, how cool is that!

Great To hear about your wonderful time and looking forward to seeing more of your dark site Images!

Thanks,
Jim

[JayTee]

I was at Tuttle Creek in the Alabama Hills by Lone Pine. Was going to try for Grandview campground in the White Mountains, but it was going to be too cold up at that altitude (19 degrees).

Next summer, try to get up to Horseshoe Meadow. It is also outside of Lone Pine, take the Whitney Portal road to the Horseshoe Meadow road, turn left. The cool/cold part is that it is at 10,000' and the skies there are mystical!

Cheers,
JT

[Peter802]

Nice report.
Thank you for sharing it with us.

[Unitron48]

Great image! Nothing like a dark sky site to enhance the viewing pleasure!!

Dave

[helicon]

So, just took my rig out to a dark site on the Eastern Sierra's. After fighting light pollution in my urban SoCal skies, I was just blfrown away by the results I got. With that said, it was a totally different experience. A couple of fun observations.

1. Finding Polaris and guide stars is hard when the sky is filled with them! It's tough to even find some of the constellations.
2. Setting up is harder in the dark away from the comforts of home.
3. Clean data makes post processing so easy. The shot below of Andromeda required next to none. Ran it thru auto-dev in Sharpcap and aside from a green hue it was near perfect. About 30 minutes in StarTools and I was "done".
4. You can grab a good shot in less time. I took the shot of Andromeda as a quick pick up. I had about 30 minutes left before I had to pack up. Figured I'd just shoot something bright...
5. Next time I'm bringing a fold up lounge chair so I can just lay back and stare up at the sky during the imaging run and watch for shooting stars.

Here's shot of Andromeda. 30 frames, 120 gain, 45 second on ASI294mcpro
andromedadarkskysmall.jpg

I was at Tuttle Creek in the Alabama Hills by Lone Pine. Was going to try for Grandview campground in the White Mountains, but it was going to be too cold up at that altitude (19 degrees).

Ah, close to Mt. whitney then. Have you ever done the hike to the top? Grandview campground is great and I went there to stargaze a few years back. Liked the bristlecone pine trees, too.

[starfield]

Not Whitney but did hike to the top of Mt. Langley which is another nearby 14Ker. Not as crazy as Whitney.

[Bigzmey]

Beautiful capture! Once you have a taste of nice dark skies it is hard to go back to observing from home.

[Kanadalainen]

Really a great image of Andromeda, thanks!

Ian

[Jay6821]

Great picture!

I've only been to a Dark Sky area once since I got my scope, but it was amazing. One thing an experienced observer told me was to complete whatever alignment my telescope needed very early, right at dusk if possible. Because once it gets dark there are so many stars out that it can be overwhelming.

[gregl]

Death Valley is also good and a little warmer. Mesquite Springs campground in the north end is about 1800 feet altitude. You can see stuff there naked eye that will blow your brains out. There is a little sky glow from Las Vegas about 100 miles to the south east but the rest is great.

[fatboy1271]

So jealous, in a good way, starfield! Where in SoCal are you? I'm in the Valley and [mention]Baskevo[/mention] is in OC. I'm guessing there's a few more of us here; we should plan a local "dark site" trip!!!

Beautiful M31 shot

[Baskevo]

Great idea, Fat!

[JayTee]

I vote for the parking lot at Dante's View above Death Valley. It's at 5500' MSL and is a great location for viewing celestial wonders.

Cheers,
JT

PS, if you go there, [mention]Lowjiber[/mention] (John) may meet you there! jt

[kt4hx]

Excellent image. The way it depicts M32 involved in the outer envelope of M31 is very reminiscent of my visual observations at our dark site. I also noted in your image very subtle traces of dust lanes in M110. Your image is delightfully detailed.