Astrophotography Adventures: Day 3 at Mont Mégantic
On the third day of my journey to Mont Mégantic, I woke up with high hopes for clear skies. However, a few unexpected challenges awaited me. Join me on this astro-odyssey as I navigate equipment checks, guiding issues, and unforeseen weather changes. Despite the obstacles, I managed to capture some stunning shots of Polaris and the Milky Way core. Read on to learn how I adapted to the changing conditions and optimized my astrophotography setup.
9/4/20234 min read
Day 3 of my astrophotography expedition to Mont Mégantic began with a thorough inspection of my equipment. I wanted to ensure that all connections were secure and that there were no issues with wires or cables. Little did I know that one of my dogs, Stella, had decided to chew through a wire, almost severing it in half. Thanks, Stella!
The main issue that had been bothering me was my guiding problem from the previous night. I had been unable to figure out why guiding had failed. Guiding is crucial for long-exposure astrophotography, allowing me to track stars accurately. I wanted to change my settings to longer exposure times and lower ISO values to improve the quality of my images.
I researched the guiding issue online and found that my initial suspicion was correct: stars near the celestial pole don't move much, causing guiding errors. Armed with this knowledge, I noted down some setting changes that might help resolve the problem.
Before I could try out these changes, I decided to stack the images I had captured of Polaris the night before. I used PixInsight to process the images and was amazed at the level of detail and dust visible in the initial preview. However, there was one problem—I had to crop a significant portion of the image to remove an electric wire that I hadn't noticed when I changed my setup location in the dark.
Despite the cropping, I was pleased with the composition and the quality of the stars. Even without guiding, the stars appeared nearly perfect, which I attributed to their minimal movement near the celestial pole. I was a bit apprehensive about shooting for two minutes without guiding, but the results looked promising.
My plan for the night was to frame Polaris without the wire in the shot. However, doing so would require me to set up in the middle of the road, leaving very little space for a passing car. I decided to take the risk since Polaris was the only available target, and it was the last clear night of my trip.
I also planned to capture untracked shots with my spare setup in the location my wife had found the previous night. I aimed to image the core of the Milky Way and take as many shots as possible. My main concern was the persistent lens fogging issue. I could only think of one solution—clean the lens and refocus each time dew formed. This would be time-consuming and limit the number of shots I could capture, but it seemed like the only viable option.
As night fell, I began setting up my equipment. Unexpectedly, it started to rain. The forecast I had seen in the morning had predicted clear skies, but without Wi-Fi, I couldn't check for updated weather conditions. I went to the reception area to refresh the weather data, and it indicated that the rain would stop around 1 AM, followed by clear skies for the rest of the night.
I decided to wait until 1 AM to start capturing data. The skies cleared up around 9:30 PM, and although there were a few clouds, none were near Polaris. I set up in the middle of the road, framed Polaris without the electric wire, and attempted guiding with the new settings. Unfortunately, I encountered the same guiding error as before.
Frustrated, I reverted to my original settings of 2-minute exposures at ISO 1600 and began capturing images. At 10 PM, I checked my equipment, and everything seemed to be working correctly. I then took my spare setup to the clear location my wife had found. Although I saw some trees in the shots, I loved the composition and decided to frame the Milky Way core between four pine trees. I managed to capture 30 minutes of data before the lens fogged up again.
After cleaning the lens and refocusing multiple times, I realized I had enough integration time for a great picture. I returned to the trailer, where I had set up chairs in front and behind the rig to prevent any cars from driving through. The campground was nearly empty, so I hoped for a quiet and uninterrupted night.
Before heading to bed, I set an alarm for 4:30 AM to stop capturing and perform dark calibration frames and the remaining calibration frames after that. The adventure continued, despite the challenges, and I remained determined to make the most of my astrophotography opportunities at Mont Mégantic.