A 270 degree 54 panel panorama of the Tivoli Astrofarm western runway, deep in the heart of the Namibian Kalahari desert.
I always wanted to shoot a huge pano to capture the vibe out there as its hard to do it justice in words when people ask what its like.
Its truly dark, the SQM routinely records night sky brightness values of 22.10+ MPSAS.
You can clearly see the shadows cast around my boots !
This has become my favourite spot over the years that i have been visiting the farm.
Gear and Capture
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Andy Ellis modified Canon 6D MKII
Sigma Art 28mm f/1.4
Fornax LighTrack II
Dual Arca Swiss D4 geared heads
Sirui tilt head
Custom counterweight rig
Gitzo Systematic series 5 tripod
Tracer power pack
For the sky i shot 5 rows and 9 columns at f/1.4, 30 Second exposures, ISO 1600
For the foreground i shot a single row of 9 columns at f/1.4, 8 minute exposures, ISO 100
Calibrated in RawTherapee, Stereographic Projection in PTGui Pro, Processed in PixInsight and Photoshop.
The halo above the Sagittarius star cloud is the Zodiacal band which is visible to the naked eye nearly all the way to the eastern horizon, intersecting the Gegenschien at the anti solar point.
Shouts
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All my love to the amazing Kirsten and Reinhold Schreiber who run the farm.
I am eternally grateful to them for giving us a perfect oasis in the desert where we can see deep into the past and dream of the future.
https://www.tivoli-astrofarm.de/
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