March 11th, 2018, 09:10 p.m. local time
Over the past month I devoted photography sessions to Orion and surrounding constellations like Taurus, Lepus, and Canis Minor. Last week I focused on Gemini. On Sunday I turned my attention a bit past all of those towards Auriga. This is one of my favorite places in the sky, particularly because of the star clusters M36, M37, and M38, which all look fantastic through my 10″ Dobsonian. But this night was not about high magnification as I once again set up my digital camera on tripod for more wide field imaging.
For Gemini I used f/2.8 and ISO 400 with 25-second exposures. For Auriga I slid the ISO down to 200 while keeping the other settings the same. Lowering ISO helps to reduce noise and improve colors, at the potential loss of detail. I am pleased with the results as a good balance between accentuating the bright stars as well as including an adequate canvas of the faint background stars. In post-processing, this time I prioritized trying to bring out the colors in a neutral sense without over-representing any one RBG band.
Auriga is in an interesting part of the sky for another reason, as the boundary between the surrounding star activity of the likes of Orion, Taurus, and Gemini and a fairly bland section of the sky occupied by the lesser known constellations of Lynx and Camelopardalis. There are no noteworthy stars nor high-profile deep sky objects in that vicinity, until you hit the areas marked by Polaris, Ursa Major, and stretching over to Leo.
My attempt to center Auriga emphasizes this point, as the picture is a bit lopsided with all the cool stuff at the center, bottom, and left with a relative void in the upper right.
So what else is in the photo besides Auriga? Taurus, Orion, and Gemini are all peeking in. And then there is a near-full cameo by Perseus, which I outlined below. And you can even see, at the very bottom, that demon star whose brightness allegedly fluctuates but I have not fully confirmed yet.
This photography session did not increase my constellation total, which still stands at 30:
- Ursa Minor
- Draco
- Leo the Lion
- Aquila
- Sagitta
- Delphinus
- Velpecula
- Lyra
- Cygnus
- Taurus
- Perseus
- Camelopardalis
- Auriga
- Cassiopeia
- Cepheus
- Scorpius
- Ophiuchus
- Virgo
- Cancer
- Leo Minor
- Lynx
- Ursa Major
- Pegasus
- Andromeda
- Orion
- Canis Minor
- Lepus
- Monoceros
- Eridanus
- Gemini
References:
- Constellations I: Testing Ursa Minor, Snagging Draco
- Constellations II: Leo the Lion
- Constellations III: Of the Summer Triangle
- Constellations IV: Scorpius Rising
- Constellations V: Leo the Lion (Remastered)
- Constellations VI: Pegasus, Andromeda, Cassiopeia, and the Quest for the Andromeda Galaxy
- Constellations VII: Orion and Taurus
- Constellations VIII: Gemini
- Constellations IX: Not Just Auriga (this post)
- Meteor Hunting, 2017 Edition
