I shot this picture in the eastern part of Morocco, near the Algerian border, during an astrophotography trip. The sky there was exceptionally pure, with absolutely no light pollution (Bortle 1).
If youβre interested, you can find more of my work on Instagram.
This image was taken during the first night of the trip. We reached this desert by 4x4, driving off-road through remote landscapes, and found the perfect place to set up camp at the base of a dune. The scenery was truly breathtaking.
Arriving on site felt almost unreal. There was nobody around, just the desert stretching endlessly around us. The spot was slightly elevated, offering a panoramic view over the desert valley. In the distance, we could see a man traveling with a camel caravan.
In this picture, you can see the Orion constellation, also called Amanar by Amazigh people (local communities). It is written as β΄°β΅β΄°β΅β΄°β΅.
The panorama was captured using a 50mm lens and is composed of 16 tiles for the sky and 9 for the foreground.
Each tile of the sky consists of a stack of two pictures with 30 second exposures, plus another 30 second exposure using a glow filter. I also captured additional frames with an Ha filter to bring out the red nebulae. I used an equatorial mount to be able to track the sky with the 50mm lens without star trails.
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As a reminder, the sky looks very different to the naked eye than it does in long-exposure astrophotography. With unaided vision, you can easily recognize the shape of Orion and notice a few of the brightest nebula regions as very faint, diffuse glows, but you cannot see the deep reds or the intricate structures shown here.
The prominent red emission visible in this image comes from H-alpha light, captured through long exposures. This wavelength is emitted by ionized hydrogen in nebulae and is largely invisible to the human eye at night. Camera sensors, however, are far more sensitive and can accumulate this faint light over time, revealing the true extent of these vast hydrogen clouds.
Even without these vivid colors, standing under a Bortle 1 sky remains an unforgettable experience, with the Milky Way arching overhead and the constellations shining with exceptional clarity.
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The Bortle Scale is a nine-level system used to measure light pollution and the quality of the night sky at a given location. It ranges from Class 1, representing the darkest skies available on Earth, where the Milky Way appears highly detailed and the zodiacal light is visible, to Class 9, which corresponds to inner-city skies where only the brightest stars and planets can be seen.
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π·
Canon 6D (astro-modded) β Skywatcher Star Adventurer β Sigma ART 50mm
Sky settings: ISO 2500 β f/1.8 β 30s
Foreground settings: ISO 4000 β f/4 β 80s
Beautiful work. What's the yellow light near the horizon? And how safe is the desert in Morocco at night? Would love to see a Bortle 1 sky some day and I think that would be the closest to me.
This is a beautiful image, how expensive would it be to buy equipment to capture an image like this? I have a canon camera and 50mm lens. Also it would be awesome to see this picture edited to look like what you saw with your naked eye for comparison.
Thanks! You will need an equatorial mount to track the sky and avoid star trails. I use a Star Adventurer which is one of the cheapest and you can also have it in second hand market. Also my camera is astro modded you can do it by yourself or send your camera to someone for 100-300 euros / dollars. Finnaly I have a Ha filter which cost me something like 200 euros I think.
Every time I see Orion rising in the winter sky again, it gives me a feeling I canβt describe..
Beautiful image btw.
I hava the same feeling, Orion is mesmerize. Thanks π
I also always forget during the summer that Orion exists and get fascinated again and again. Same goes for Sirius
I shot this picture in the eastern part of Morocco, near the Algerian border, during an astrophotography trip. The sky there was exceptionally pure, with absolutely no light pollution (Bortle 1).
If youβre interested, you can find more of my work on Instagram.
This image was taken during the first night of the trip. We reached this desert by 4x4, driving off-road through remote landscapes, and found the perfect place to set up camp at the base of a dune. The scenery was truly breathtaking.
Arriving on site felt almost unreal. There was nobody around, just the desert stretching endlessly around us. The spot was slightly elevated, offering a panoramic view over the desert valley. In the distance, we could see a man traveling with a camel caravan.
In this picture, you can see the Orion constellation, also called Amanar by Amazigh people (local communities). It is written as β΄°β΅β΄°β΅β΄°β΅.
The panorama was captured using a 50mm lens and is composed of 16 tiles for the sky and 9 for the foreground.
Each tile of the sky consists of a stack of two pictures with 30 second exposures, plus another 30 second exposure using a glow filter. I also captured additional frames with an Ha filter to bring out the red nebulae. I used an equatorial mount to be able to track the sky with the 50mm lens without star trails.
----
As a reminder, the sky looks very different to the naked eye than it does in long-exposure astrophotography. With unaided vision, you can easily recognize the shape of Orion and notice a few of the brightest nebula regions as very faint, diffuse glows, but you cannot see the deep reds or the intricate structures shown here.
The prominent red emission visible in this image comes from H-alpha light, captured through long exposures. This wavelength is emitted by ionized hydrogen in nebulae and is largely invisible to the human eye at night. Camera sensors, however, are far more sensitive and can accumulate this faint light over time, revealing the true extent of these vast hydrogen clouds.
Even without these vivid colors, standing under a Bortle 1 sky remains an unforgettable experience, with the Milky Way arching overhead and the constellations shining with exceptional clarity.
----
The Bortle Scale is a nine-level system used to measure light pollution and the quality of the night sky at a given location. It ranges from Class 1, representing the darkest skies available on Earth, where the Milky Way appears highly detailed and the zodiacal light is visible, to Class 9, which corresponds to inner-city skies where only the brightest stars and planets can be seen.
----
π·
Canon 6D (astro-modded) β Skywatcher Star Adventurer β Sigma ART 50mm
Sky settings: ISO 2500 β f/1.8 β 30s
Foreground settings: ISO 4000 β f/4 β 80s
Beautiful work. What's the yellow light near the horizon? And how safe is the desert in Morocco at night? Would love to see a Bortle 1 sky some day and I think that would be the closest to me.
Thanks ! The yellow light is airglow which is a faint light from the atmosphere, as you can see here from ISS : https://espielnaturalezaypatrimonio.es/wp-content/uploads/ISS_airglow.webp
Airglow is visible on DSLR only from very clear sky.
Also I guess some dust sand is present.
Never having seen the Milky Way is one of the few things I want to fix in my life. How is it to the naked eye? Nice pica btw, very nice
I did a version which is more or less close to what we can see with naked eyes here :
https://imgur.com/a/jOXV5kM
Thank you π
Can you share a shot without the writer? Curious to see how it looked without it
Beautiful. π» i have a tattoo of Orion in my wrist to remind myself every time what is my life goal
I do too, on my left forearm! I named my son Ryan (ex thought Orion would be too weird).
Thank you πβ
This is a beautiful image, how expensive would it be to buy equipment to capture an image like this? I have a canon camera and 50mm lens. Also it would be awesome to see this picture edited to look like what you saw with your naked eye for comparison.
Thanks! You will need an equatorial mount to track the sky and avoid star trails. I use a Star Adventurer which is one of the cheapest and you can also have it in second hand market. Also my camera is astro modded you can do it by yourself or send your camera to someone for 100-300 euros / dollars. Finnaly I have a Ha filter which cost me something like 200 euros I think.
Thanksss π
Orion's like:
"Say man, you seen a belt around anywhere?"
love it...so, so beautiful:)
Thanks a lot πβπβ
Magical shot!
Thank you πβ
How does one capture a shot like this?
You can see all details in my descriptive comment
holy shitt
Do y'all have a website I can buy a print of this I want it on my wall
Absolutely stunning
This is so ethereal and beautiful. It's like if Van Gogh could use Ai.
Haha I like the idea of Van Gogh π Thanks!
SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!!!