20:24:10 UTC 1st December 2004
Canon EOS 300D with 18mm lens at F3.5
120 sec exposure at ISO 1600
It is very enjoyable taking wide-field images of whole constellations. This image is of two constellations, Cassiopeia and Perseus. It is not hard to take this kind of image and doesn't require much equipment. A Canon EOS 300D SLR camera with the supplied 18-55mm zoom lens was used.
The camera had the benefit of sitting on a motorized equatorial mount, which allowed the camera to follow the stars as the Earth rotated on its axis. This permitted a longer exposure to bring out more of the Milky Way that runs through these constellations.
A good image can still be taken without a motorized mount but shorter exposures are needed so that stars don't trail. The image will have fewer stars on it but it will still be possible to make out all the main stars in any particular constellation.
Between the two constellations is the double cluster C14, which is part of Patrick Moore's Caldwell Catalogue.
Not much processing is needed with wide-field images like this. All that was done to this image was the adding of lines to connect up the stars in each constellation.
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