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I am out west this weekend. The weather is pristine. Cold nights. Zero breeze. No full moon. Last Thursday night's efforts at capturing the Milky Way weren't great, so I tried again tonight. I thought at one stage I saw Elvis abducted by aliens, but I may have been mistaken. In any case, I'm pretty sure there was a UFO up there somewhere as indicated by the light beam. Or maybe it was the Enterprise...

Milky2 by Ozimax, on Flickr

Milky1 by Ozimax, on Flickr

Milky3 by Ozimax, on Flickr

If you can't identify it it, it is by definition a UFO. even if further research indicates it is in fact the Enterprise. Though what an aircraft carrier is doing that far from the ocean I cannot even begin to guess.

Nice photos though.

#3 is my pick.
#1 the tree is too blown out. I like the idea though.
#2 lacks foreground interest. Always needed in these shots IMO

What settings did you use?

Fraser, were you using a startracker of some sort or just shooting with a longer shutter? I too would love to know what settings you used. Dave and I have been talking about getting out there and doing some more astro photography sometime soon. How did you find the XT1 with it all? I found it a great size and had great quality shots with my last attempt of astrophotography with it.

Mr Darcy wrote:If you can't identify it it, it is by definition a UFO. even if further research indicates it is in fact the Enterprise. Though what an aircraft carrier is doing that far from the ocean I cannot even begin to guess.

Mr Darcy wrote:What settings did you use?

Fuji 18-55 @ 18mm / ISO 3200 / Shutter 17 secs / Tripod of course / 2 sec timer / manual focus (which is the hardest setting to get right with a mirrorless camera)

bigsarg7 wrote:Fraser, were you using a startracker of some sort or just shooting with a longer shutter? I too would love to know what settings you used. Dave and I have been talking about getting out there and doing some more astro photography sometime soon. How did you find the XT1 with it all? I found it a great size and had great quality shots with my last attempt of astrophotography with it.

Excellent camera with all the manual controls available. Focusing with a mirrorless camera is to me the hardest part of the whole process. There are sometimes I wish I had a DSLR in these situations, but the image quality from the Fuji is outstanding. Also, my old tripod is getting a bit wobbly so I think a new one is in the offing sooner rather than later.

And it was such a night.

I love the second and third. The first one seems to been beaming down some alien or MR BEAN by mistake on a branch.

zafra52 wrote:I love the second and third. The first one seems to been beaming down some alien or MR BEAN by mistake on a branch.

he

Actually now that you've mentioned it, yes, it wasn't Elvis, it was Mr Bean, teleported to the Starship Enterprise.