r/itookapicture • u/igneisnightscapes @igneis.nightscapes • Sep 08 '26
ITAP of the Milky Way during 44 hours
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u/igneisnightscapes @igneis.nightscapes Sep 08 '26
Cassiopeia and the dust in the Milky Way, often a forgotten region, eclipsed by others with stronger emissions.
https://www.instagram.com/igneis.nightscapes/
Years ago, when I shot it quickly, I noticed a lot of dusty structures: the Integrated Flux Nebula (IFN), high galactic latitude dust illuminated not by nearby stars, but by the combined light of the whole Milky Way. I thought: I have to revisit it with a 50mm and proper integration time.
Now, with 44 hours of integration, so many nights of driving, staying there, looking north, shooting... nothing. An empty field of stars. The dome stood there with me, another eye pointed at the same darkness, waiting for something neither of us could see yet. The routine was: check the weather, drive, stay the whole night shooting, and come back home wondering what I'd get out of this.
Now, with all the dust revealed, seeing it for myself makes me wonder how we can see so little, just stars, when in that direction there is so much, so much dust, so much nebulosity. We cannot see it, as if our eyes were lacking insight. But a camera, combined with patience... how curious.
It's not only about the dust, the Hydrogen Alpha, the Oxygen III. It's about the ambition and the resistance to just keep going. That's the result of this image.
It took 44 hours of exposure to see what was always there. Some things only reveal themselves at a cost.
Some things wait in the dark not because they are hidden, but because nothing has looked long enough to find them.
EQUIPMENT:
Sony a7IV astromodified x2, twin setup
50mm f/2 APO Sony
ZWO AM3N
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u/Hopeful_Butterfly302 Sep 14 '26
Beautiful shot.
What was your processing workflow?
I love the veil nebula peeking out at the top of the frame. I've never seen it like this.
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u/herr_musil2 Sep 08 '26
Photos like this make me awestruck and realise my size in the vast cosmos, however people around make me realise I’m not insignificant either.
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u/Sas_fruit Sep 09 '26
Yes especially those who complain us that we have become a big nail in their foot, LoL
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u/CodeMonkeyPhoto Sep 08 '26
Thank goodness he didn't activate the sensor dust cleaner.
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u/Sas_fruit Sep 09 '26
Why?
Or sarcasm?
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u/Hmmm_ok_buddy Sep 09 '26
Definitely sarcasm. Dust is mentioned in the original post as a main point to the entire endeavor and he mentions a dust cleaner…
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u/Sas_fruit Sep 10 '26
Original post has no caption or mention,
Edit : u mean the op with a comment under post
Also i have not much idea about such topics so i thought is it sarcasm or intention of OP was to capture with dust?
Also it's atmospheric dust is what I guess, that can't be filtered, not deposited on lens during that time .. and hydrogen alpha, oxygen III i will be searching later
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u/Alyx_695 Sep 09 '26
What do you mean by "during 44h"? Exposure time? How would you not have the sun come up on the shop? Also, even with equatorial mount we can't see the same stars for 44h (earth rotation) so same question, how?
I mean the shot is very nice but I don't understand the 44h bit, could you elaborate? Did you take multiple photos for composite and added all the exposure time?
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u/rainbowkey Sep 09 '26
not 44hrs in a row. 44hr over many nights. Then all of the exposures are combined in software
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u/SamOfXanadu Sep 09 '26
If only we could see this with the naked eye ... Wow. I can see the milky way from my back yard the dust etc but that... Wow.
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u/Worldly_Narwhal_9383 Sep 09 '26
Op, this is genuinely one of the most gorgeous, awe inspiring, breathtaking photos I have ever seen. Wow. Just wow I have no words.
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u/PhaseIllustrious2272 Sep 09 '26
This is absolutely stunning. I have a BA in Photography but I didn't specialize in nature or astro photography. I always admired the patience and commitment it takes for those who specialize in this type of work. Well done. It would be great to be able to buy a print!
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u/SomeSeagull Sep 09 '26
That is beautiful! I didn’t really understand the process. How did you shoot this over multiple days? If you have a shutter too slow, wouldnt things move? Even the trees and grass are super crispy.
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u/HorsePussyRespectBtn Sep 13 '26
i dont remember milky ways looking like this. did they change theyre wrapper?
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u/Junior_Yesterday9271 Sep 14 '26
For my ignorance and desire to know, I’d love to have a little bit of an explanation on how you went about creating the “44 hrs”, and was there a fair bit of image positioning to get the final image or was that fairly/fully automatically handled by what software?
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u/ITAP_bot @itookapicture.art 11d ago
🏆 Congratulations to u/igneisnightscapes! This photo has been selected as Photo of the Month - September 2026.
Thank you for sharing your work with r/itookapicture!