Can we have a forum just for "Wide Field Astronomy Imaging"?

I would like to request a forum specifically for "Wide Field Astronomy Imaging". Here is my rationale:

Astrophotography encompasses a huge list of astronomical imaging types. Mostly though, it seems to get taken over by those who mostly concentrate on DSO (deep space objects) imaged via telescopes and telephoto lenses. Some really cool stuff, but that requires a different set of skills and equipment than what those who do wide field astronomy imaging use. So it is really best to separate these two disciplines out into separate forums.

Another issue is that wide field astronomy imaging is about capturing the astronomy related objects within the night sky, such as star trails, meteor showers, Milky Way imagery, etc. It does not include cityscapes unless astronomy is the main focus. Street scenes are not included either, nor are imagery of the weather, unless astronomy is the main focus, which it rarely it in those disciplines.

So those of us who do wide field astronomy imaging need our own forum wherein we can not only post photos and videos, but where we can discuss technique, equipment, post processing, etc.

Thank you,

Jack Swinden

Well said Jack.

I would also add, that there is no forum where people can gather to discuss these subjects that I am aware of, so the existence of such should draw in a fair few specialists that have effectively not had a "home" till now, as well as potogs looking for tips on shooting their first meteor shower or heading off to Alaska for the first time to shoot the Northern Lights, etc,.

Perhaps we could also have some mention of "footage" in the forum title/description?

It would be nice to have that all in one place, and separate from the DSO talk as Jack says.

Leo, I agree we need to mention photography and videography some how in the title. Thanks for mentioning capturing the Northern Lights. I forgot to mention it. I also forgot to mention time-lapses and panoramas, and probably some other types too.

A few more spring to mind. NLCs, sprites/jets/elves/other lightning related phenomena, satellites and manned space flight imagery, air glow. Many types of low light imaging of various atmospheric phenomena which don't really fit anywhere else. These are phenomena that occur on the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space. Not really "landscape", but I've often thought "skyscape" might be a good term, and could include a wide variety of subjects.

Another one is STEVE ("Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement").

I'd enjoy that! I do both - also the DSO imaging is sporadic. I'm more at home with widefield imaging. Have a timelapse set up at the moment, in fact. There's such a range of phenomena under the widefield umbrella and it would be cool to see what others are doing. Discussions of gear specific to astrophotography are also of interest. My Canon 6D is getting rather worn so I'm looking for an upgrade but don't want to abandon my EF lens collection.

I live in southwestern Nova Scotia and am lucky enough to be in a dark-sky area, for the most part. I'm also fortunate enough to work at a local, private observatory now and then. We offer public sessions that include audiovisual info, observation with and without telescopes and personal interaction with the folks attending. Last summer, we were treated to a couple auroral displays that could be picked up on cellphone cameras. We're too far south to see northern lights very often.

Hope we can get a group going here!

Brenda

Nice to have you aboard Brenda.

I have always specialized in meteors and their brighter counterparts, fireballs, but any atmospheric phenomena are of interest to me. I do struggle with DSO imaging, and want to do more, but monitoring the sky for meteors/fireballs takes all my time and energy at the moment. A few years ago we moved away from darker skies in Wales to just outside Derby (UK), and recording footage copes better with light pollution than taking stills, so that is what I have been doing, but I still have multiple DSLRs which I will continue to use for stills when I get the chance.

If you're looking for advice for a replacement for your 6D, you are in the right place. I've never owned a 6D, but I know it is still a very capable camera. If it was me, I wouldn't replace it, I'd add to it since the more sky you cover, the more chance you have of catching something unusual. For stills I currently have 1DX II (x1), 70D (x3), 1Ds II (x4), as well as 5D (x2) and 20D (x3) which are just gathering dust. There is also an Canon RP that I bought a year ago, but have not used, and I have 3x Sony a7S II exclusively for footage.

If you don't want to abandon your EF lenses then perhaps consider an adapter along with another mount like Sony E-Mount or Canon RF, both of which can accommodate EF mount lenses.

I’ll add: Gegenschein, Zodiacal Light, Great Comets, and constellation portraits. The angle of coverage is an obvious (to me 😁) unifying principle; narrow angle work goes with telescopes and dedicated astro cameras more often than with general purpose cameras and photo lenses.

I’m ok with including lightning/sprites/STEVEs, meteor showers, green flashes, airglow, and arcs/halos/dogs even though they are technically atmospheric phenomena.

Rainbows are traditionally categorized as weather but I wouldn’t heckle anyone over them.