1997 Southern Sky Astrophotography

All Sky Milky Way - I
(97SS22w)

A 180º fish-eye lens captures the entire sky with the center of the Milky Way passing near the zenith.

Southern Sky & Milky Way (Lake Titicaca, Bolivia)
8mm f/2,8 Nikkor Fisheye, Fuji Super G 800 Plus, 12 minutes @ f/2.8
Photo ©1997 by Fred Espenak

Sagittarius
(97SS77w)

The center of the Milky Way Galaxy lies in western Sagittarius.

Southern Sky & Milky Way (Lake Titicaca, Bolivia)
85mm f/2,8 Nikkor, Fuji Super G 800 Plus, 12 minutes @ f/2.8
Photo ©1997 by Fred Espenak

Small Magellanic Cloud
(97SS30w)

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is a satellite galaxy of our own Milky Way. The SMC lies at a distance of 200,000 light years. The bright globular cluster nearby (above right) is named 47 Tucanae.

Southern Sky & Milky Way (Lake Titicaca, Bolivia)
180mm f/2,8 Nikkor, Fuji Super G 800 Plus, 12 minutes @ f/2.8
Photo ©1997 by Fred Espenak

Hut and Milky Way
(97SS24w)

The southern Milky Way rises above a reel hut on the shore of Lake Titicaca, Bolivia (12,000 feet).

Southern Sky & Milky Way (Lake Titicaca, Bolivia)
8mm f/2,8 Nikkor Fisheye, Fuji Super G 800 Plus, 12 minutes @ f/2.8
Photo ©1997 by Fred Espenak

Alpha Sco
(97SS27w)

Dust and gas surrounding the stars Alpha Sco and Rho Oph are illuminated by their brilliance.Alpha Sco (Antares) is a red super giant star about 700 times the diameter of the Sun. Its distance is 520 light years.

Southern Sky & Milky Way (Lake Titicaca, Bolivia)
180mm f/2,8 Nikkor, Fuji Super G 800 Plus, 12 minutes @ f/2.8
Photo ©1997 by Fred Espenak

Eta Carina Nebula - I
(97SS01+02w)

The remarkable nova and variable star Eta Carina is embedded in a huge glowing nebula of gas and dust which is visible to the naked eye. It lies at a distance of about 1200 parsecs (3800 light years).

Southern Sky & Milky Way (Lake Titicaca, Bolivia)
400mm f/3.5 Nikkor, Fuji Super G 800 Plus, 25 minutes @ f/3.5 (composite of two shots)
Photo ©1997 by Fred Espenak

M8 and M20 Nebulae
(97SS14w)

The Lagoon Nebula (M8) and nearby Trifid Nebula (M20) are visible in even a small telescope.

Southern Sky & Milky Way (Lake Titicaca, Bolivia)
AstroPhysics 105EDT (fl=620mm) f/5.9, Fuji Super G 800 Plus, 25 minutes @ f/5.9
Photo ©1997 by Fred Espenak

Axis of Southern Milky Way
(97SS66w)

Wide field wiew along the axis of southern Milky Way through Centaurus, Crux and Carina.

Southern Sky & Milky Way (Lake Titicaca, Bolivia)
35mm f/2 Nikkor, Fuji Super G 800 Plus, 6 minutes @ f/2
Photo ©1997 by Fred Espenak

Large Magellanic Cloud - I
(97SS33w)

To the naked eye, the Large Magellanic Cloud appears to be a misplaced piece of the Milky Way. In reality, it is a satellite galaxy of our own. The LMC lies at a distance of 190,000 light years and is composed of approximately 25 billion stars.

Southern Sky & Milky Way (Lake Titicaca, Bolivia)
105mm f/2,8 Nikkor, Fuji Super G 800 Plus, 12 minutes @ f/2.8
Photo ©1997 by Fred Espenak

Sagittarius & Scorpius
(97SS40w)

The familiar outlines of Sagittarius and Scorpius are lost in a time exposure of the backgrough Milky Way.

Southern Sky & Milky Way (Lake Titicaca, Bolivia)
35mm f/2 Nikkor, Fuji Super G 800 Plus, 12 minutes @ f/2.8
Photo ©1997 by Fred Espenak