Late night star shots

 Another clear night on Tuesday, sqml=21.3.  There were lightning flashes to the northeast from a distant storm.  

Equipment used: Olympus E-M1iii + Sigma 56mm f/1.4 + Hoya Softon filter, Sony A7iii + Sony FE 20mm f1/8 G + Hoya Sparkle-6 filter.

The Pleiades (M45) rising over Snowshoe Mountain.  Sigma 56mm.

 

Saturn and the Circlet of Pisces.  Sigma 56mm.

 

Neptune is still visible close to Saturn.  They will be keeping each other company for a while.  Neptune is currently 240.3 light minutes distant, about 3.4 times farther away than Saturn. Here is an expanded view:

 

MIrfak and the cluster Melotte 20.  Sigma 56mm.

 Mirfak (Alpha Persei) is the brightest member of Melotte 20, a loose association of about 100 stars also known as the Alpha Persei Moving Group.  Mirfak is slightly brighter than Polaris, the North Star.

 

The Double Cluster in Perseus.  Sigma 56mm

The Double Cluster (NGC 869 and NGC 884) in Perseus is an inspiring sight in small telescopes.

The Summer Triangle and Milky Way.  Sony 20mm

 This image of the Summer Triangle is a blend of two exposures, one with the Sparkle filter and one without.  This technique works well when there are no stationary foreground objects in the scene that would be blurred by the star tracking.

The southern and northern Milky Way.  Sony 20mm.

 There is strong green and purple airglow visible at low elevations both to the north and the south.

The Milky Way core setting behind Bristol Head. Sigma 56mm.