Supernova Reflections

A beautiful night at Lake Campion, Western Australia where there was a thin film of water to reflect the night sky making for some interesting possibilities in composition. In this image the Vela supernova remnant dominates the sky with the bright Carina nebula just sneaking in at the top of the frame. And somewhat of a rarity, I managed to even get the reflection of the supernova in the calm surface of the water (no photoshop trickery here, with alot of processing this is the actual reflection).

But of course, I couldn't help sneaking into the image (bit hard to photo bomb my deepsky astrophotography that I've been doing recently). Here I pose with my second camera and tripod that I primarily brought along as props so that I could appear to be doing something else rather than just standing there like a stunned mullet.

This image consists of two panels shot on a modified Canon EOS6D camera through a 24mm f1.4 Sigma lens with sky tracker turned on for the sky panel. In addition, another two panels where shot immediately afterward through a dual narrowband filter to bring out the relatively faint supernove remnant.

I have to add that it was quite a surreal experience walking on the lake with the sky above and reflected on the surface of the water below. You are walking but can't see the bottom surface of the lake past the reflected stars, so it seemed like you were walking in the same spot with no motion. Another nightscape experience that I'll never forget.

Enjoy, Will.
| IMG_3287 | 2024-06-05 | Lake Campion, Western Australia | EOS6D modified | Sigma 24mm f1.4 lens | @f/2.4 | IDAS HEUII / Duo Narrowband filter | ISO3200 | 30s / 120s | 2 / 2 x panels | Skywatcher StarAdventurer mount |