Galactic Bulge Surrounded by orange Airglow

Guillaume Doyen

Coquimbo Region, Chile

Single exposure of 60 seconds, ISO 3200, 18 mm, F/1.8

Canon EOS 700D (unmodified sensor) + sigma art 18-35 mm f/1.8 lens + Star Adventurer Mini tracking mount

DXO Optics pro 9 : for noise reduction (prime) + Lightroom + Photoshop (for star reduction)

Since I started practicing astrophotography in 2013, I would have never thought that I could go one day in Chile, for stargazing.
So, on May 21st, I went to the Andes, at 2000 meters altitude (some kilometers away from Pisco Elqui, Coquimbo Region).

I have never seen a dark sky and a bright milky way like this ! There were tears in my eyes, because a lot of emotion came out : this is genuinely a dream which has come true.
This picture is a single 60 seconds exposure taken with a tracking mount.

All the red/orange color around the milky way comes from airglow. The airglow was visible to the naked eye at the horizon, because it made stars sparkling !

2018-05-21T00:00:00