Contains:  Extremely wide field
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A nightscape over Cannibal Gorge Hut, Lewis Pass, NZ, Niall MacNeill

A nightscape over Cannibal Gorge Hut, Lewis Pass, NZ

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A nightscape over Cannibal Gorge Hut, Lewis Pass, NZ, Niall MacNeill

A nightscape over Cannibal Gorge Hut, Lewis Pass, NZ

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Tramping at Lewis Pass, NZ. We stayed at the gorgeous Cannibal Gorge Hut. As night fell, I captured 30 images, 20 sec each, ISO 400, f/5.6, FL 14mm, with the night sky rotating about the South Celestial Pole (SCP). These were registered and stacked using PixInsight.

With the latitude at 44 degrees South, the SCP is pitched up much higher than I am used to in Australia at 33 degrees (my latitude South).

Separately the foreground was processed and integrated with the star scene.

Despite the waxing, gibbous moon being 3/4s full and the light from the evening sky it is still possible to see the beautiful Milky Way. The two pointers, Alpha & Beta Centauri sit just above the hills with the Southern Cross above them. The dark nebula, the "coal sack" sits in its lower right hand quadrant. The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds can be seen in the middle of the image near the SCP. The bright star to the East (right) is Achernar.

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A nightscape over Cannibal Gorge Hut, Lewis Pass, NZ, Niall MacNeill