The Core and the Eclipse

This felt pretty good. I spent quite a bit of time with the Photopills App and a camera in the daylight to see if it was even possible to get the Core of the Milky Way and the Lunar Eclipse in the same image. The data said it was, but I was not certain how visible the Core would be, even though the Full Eclipsed Moon is not too bright. So, a 3 a.m. alarm and a 30 minute drive from Bozeman, MT on March 3rd, I found myself here, with hooting Great-Horned Owls on one side and 3 or 4 Coyotes singing their little hearts out on the other.

Larger res available if it’s needed

MSM Nomad Star Tracker

Nikon Z8

Sigma Art 14-24mm with FTZ2 adapter

3 tracked shots pano for the sky ~ ISO 1000, f/2.8, 120 seconds, 14mm

3 shot pano for the landscape ~ ISO 640, f/2.8, 180 seconds, 14 mm

1 shot to replace the blown out moon~ Nikon D850, Sigma 105mm Macro ISO 1000, f/2.8, 1/15 sec

All images shot within 30 minutes of each other

I merged the two panoramas Lightroom, then sent it to Photoshop to blend the sky with the landscape. I dropped in and resized the moon. It’s larger than it would be at the 14 mm that the landscape and sky were shot at. Did a little masking to bring out the best of the sky and land.