I think I found a whole Galaxy!

I was out again two nights ago practicing my #astrophotography initiated by @juliank and got some sharper images by trying some different camera settings. As I learn more it is becoming easier to adjust the camera on the fly.

I can now, more or less 'see' what I am going to get before I take a photo. I didn't see this galaxy though.

When you look at the photos on the computer and tweak various settings. The whole sky comes to life. It is truly astonishing.

Spiral galaxy

Let me explain. When you start this astrophotography lark it may seem quite daunting as there are so many fantastic photographs already of the night sky. Not to mention the amazing images from NASA, ESA, Roscosmos and everyone else.

But this is to miss the point. Doing it for yourself is immensely rewarding and exciting and it is a great way to see things for yourself. I wasn't looking for a galaxy per se but it revealed itself to me in editing. This is part of the fun of discovery.

This is the sequence of photos that led me to my discovery. It's probably got a name already and has been discovered no doubt by many people before but this was my first discovery. And that is all that matters. It's fun, exciting and uplifting.

First Star field image

I can see that something looks a little different in the bottom right of the image.

starfield 1.jpg

First Star field image enhanced in photo editor

As you can see below by enhancing the image in just in a basic photo editor. You can see millions of stars. I noticed a blurred image bottom right.

starfield 1a.jpg

As we zoom in you can see what looks like a blob of blurred light.

starfield 3 enhanced and cropped.jpg

And finally with the zoom on maximum you can see if you squint the arms of a spiral galaxy.

I cannot explain the excitement I felt when I saw this for the first time. It was literally out of this world. :)

OK it may not be the best image in the world but it is mine. Made by me for your enjoyment.

When you look at these night sky images you can see many 1,000's of blurred blobs of light and I'm pretty sure they are all galaxies too. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but for me it is hugely engaging.

Now I know what I am looking for I can focus more on specific blobs in the night sky and capture them too.

At the moment I am shooting in jpg format which is pretty low quality. I will be trying this again in full high dynamic range (HDR) when I get my head around it on this camera; timing wise.

Basically it's 3 shots long exposure shots in rapid succession in red, green and blue. More practicing is on the cards. :)

You can see why people have been looking at the stars forever. They are magical and you can see patterns in them if you look long enough. Of course that may be just our interpretation but we are pattern seeking animals after all.

Category	(astrophotography)
Camera	(Canon EOS 70D)
Exposure	(9 seconds)
f Stop	(1.8)
ISO	(400)
Lens	(Canon 50 mm lens)