Outback Skies (Part 1)- Alice Springs, NT, Australia
This past weekend Jon and I took advantage of a night out and the new moon to try out some night sky photography. We had a perfect, cool night to lay out under the stars and snap away.
In the fall we went on a date to the Earth Sanctuary and learned what can be seen in Southern sky, which is a must-do when you’re in Alice. Jon remembered so many details from the lecture and all I could really remember was listening to the didgeridoo, hah! Either way, that experience has had us looking up ever sense.
We drove about 30 minutes south of Alice and pulled off the highway where there was a bit of a clearing.
I have some memories of my high school photography classes and Jon enjoys tinkering with our Sony a6000, so it was truly an experiment. We did bring the tripod but forgot the connector piece (hah!) so we shot off of the hood of the Cruiser. Not ideal but it was fun to get a couple of good shots of the Milky Way.
We brought our zero-gravity chairs and they worked so well for star gazing; I laid back and ate Tim Tams while Jon played with the camera and shot away.
We were able to capture a galaxy in this shot; next to the tall tree. It was hazy to the naked eye but showed up so well in photos! The bright glow in the bottom right is some headlights coming up the highway.
The night sky in the Outback is known to be one of the best in the world for star gazing. The lack of light pollution and cloud cover makes for some reliably great skies. Traditional swags (tents) in the Outback are open on the top to allow the camper to fall asleep gazing at the night sky. It really is “out of this world” spectacular!
I did need to edit the images and have this post to thank for my Photoshop skills. I made a pre-set to make things easier to edit next time.
I made this post “part 1” because we’d love to get more night sky photos while we’re here. The beauty of the Outback scenery is truly incredible but the true wonder is captured after the sun sets.
Cheers,
K, J, EL & P