Thursday, July 24, 2014

Canon 60Da Milky Way Tripod Ultra Wide Angle Astrophotography Summer Triangle

This is my first deep and detailed Milky Way photo captured with the Canon EOS 60Da. I took this image in the Catskills, Upstate New York, under much darker skies compared to Brooklyn. The 60Da’s enhanced H-alpha sensitivity and special IR-cut filter reveal far more Milky Way structure than my older Canon 40D ever could.

Using an ultra-wide-angle Canon EF 16–35mm f/2.8L II lens on a fixed tripod, the 60Da captured thousands of faint stars and intricate nebulae in a single wide field centered on the Summer Triangle (Vega, Deneb, Altair).

Canon 60Da Milky Way Ultra Wide Angle Astrophotography Summer Triangle Upstate New York

Canon 60Da Milky Way Ultra Wide Angle Astrophotography Summer Triangle Tripod Catskills Upstate NY New York

Constellations and Deep-Sky Objects Visible

This wide field contains an incredible number of stars — my software detected over 10,000 stars in a single frame. It covers many constellations:

Cygnus, Lyra, Delphinus, Lacerta, Sagitta
Parts of Cepheus, Equuleus, Pegasus, Draco, Aquila

Several famous deep-sky nebulae and clusters are visible, including:

IC 1396 – Elephant’s Trunk Nebula
NGC 7000 – North America Nebula
IC 5070 & IC 5067 – Pelican Nebula
IC 1318 – Gamma Cygni Nebula
IC 5146 – Cocoon Nebula
IC 1311 – Sadr Region
Veil Nebula (supernova remnant)
Dark nebulae: Triple Cave (Aquila), Le Gentil 3 (Cygnus)
Beginning of the Great Rift in the Milky Way
Open clusters: M29, NGC 6885, NGC 6940
Brocchi’s Cluster (Coathanger)

Canon 60Da LCD screen showing astrophotography settings

Canon 60Da setting

Exposure details:
Canon 60Da + Canon EF 16–35mm f/2.8L II
Fixed tripod (no tracker)
f/2.8, ISO 12800, 9 seconds each
Total imaging time: ~20 minutes (stacked in DeepSkyStacker)

Canon 60Da astrophotography tripod setup anti-dew heater remote timer

Canon 60Da Astrophotography - Tripod, Timer Remote and anti-Dew Dew-Not

The daytime photo of the setup shows the full equipment used for this shot: the Canon 60Da mounted on a sturdy tripod, a remote interval timer for consistent exposures, and an anti-dew heating strip (Dew-Not) wrapped around the lens. Dew control is especially important during summer nights in the Catskills to keep the lens clear for long imaging sessions. This simple and portable setup is ideal for wide-field Milky Way photography when traveling without a star tracker.

Canon EOS 60Da Milky Way Astrophotography annotated deep sky wide field Summer Triangle

Wide Field Astrophotography Canon 60Da Milky Way - annotated

The annotated version of the Milky Way image shows just how rich this region of the sky is. By labeling the nebulae, dark clouds, open clusters, and constellation patterns, the annotation helps visualize how much structure the Canon 60Da can capture with only a fixed tripod and a wide-angle lens. It also highlights how well the 60Da’s enhanced H-alpha sensitivity brings out emission nebulae like the North America Nebula, Pelican Nebula, Gamma Cygni region, and Cocoon Nebula.