I carried a star tracker through the desert in June to photograph the milky way in one of the darkest places in the US - Reflection Canyon, Utah [OC][1440x1800]

Image from preview.redd.it and submitted by mtuohyphoto
image showing I carried a star tracker through the desert in June to photograph the milky way in one of the darkest places in the US - Reflection Canyon, Utah [OC][1440x1800]

mtuohyphoto on September 24th, 2018 at 02:17 UTC »

No, the milky way doesn't look like this to the naked eye - that said, southern utah is one of the darkest places in the united states and this is probably the most detailed image of the milky way that I've taken, ever. Carrying a star tracker allows the camera to expose for minutes at a time, counteracting the movement of the earth that usually blurs the stars at long exposure lengths.

The temperatures in utah got up to 100 degrees when we hiked to reflection canyon, a 10 mile hike each way with no water along the route and no trail. It was extremely humbling to have to rely solely on yourself out in the desert knowing it was likely we'd see nobody else the entire time we were out and backpacking. We actually ran out of water on the way back and hiked the final mile without water with temperatures steadily rising. It's my recommendation to NOT hike this in june... I don't think it should be done from mid may - mid october. It's just too hot and dangerous out there.

For the camera nerds like me:

Sky: tracked and stacked, 3 exposures @ ISO800, 16mm, f2.8, 4m2s. Foreground: 1 exposure during astronomical twilight @ ISO 800, 16mm, f2.8, 6m

Shot on an A7iii with 16-35gm on sky watcher star adventurer.

Also, if anyone wants to follow along on instagram, you can find me at @morgan.tuohy!

Happy to answer any questions!

blacksunshinerayz on September 24th, 2018 at 02:55 UTC »

I just learned last night that we are looking at the side view of the galaxy and there’s no way to get a birds eye view but most scientists agree that it’s a spiral galaxy and not a cluster galaxy. I felt slow when I never realized we only have a side view of our galaxy

coconow on September 24th, 2018 at 04:11 UTC »

One of the most beautiful photos I’ve ever seen.