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CharlesBrooks OP t1_j7gaicb wrote

About 2 hours north of San Pedro de Atacama is Machuca Territory.
The tribe that live here are the only that haven't sold their water rights to the giant mining companies. The result is a literal oasis full of flamingos, cacti, rivers, salt plains, geysers, and astonishing night views like this....

photo is made of 2 frames

60 seconds tracked for the stars (ISO 2000, f/3, 60 seconds)
60 seconds untracked for the land (ISO 5000, f/5.6, 60 seconds)

Lumix S5
Lumix 24-70 pro
Benro Polaris

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Jonny7Tenths t1_j7hrnd7 wrote

That is amazing. I'm completely new to astrophotography but I see everything from satellite tracks to hydrogen nebulae. Can you provide a little more detail on how you captured so much in a single 60 second expose of the sky? Cheers.

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CharlesBrooks OP t1_j7i0uf3 wrote

Two things - first the sky was tracked with a benro Polaris, that's why I don't have star trails.

Second - this is one of the darkest places on earth. No light pollution for hundreds of miles. I'm also at an altitude of around 4000 meters so there's little atmosphere to shoot through, and the atmosphere is bone dry. This is why some of the world's largest observatories are in this region.

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gh0rard1m71 t1_j7iq1lc wrote

I'm going there December but unfortunately milky way is not visible in December ☹️

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CharlesBrooks OP t1_j7ju7rf wrote

There are still plenty of visible stars, just not the galactic core. You can still get wonderful night photos at this time.

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[deleted] t1_j7gdmtp wrote

Wow! This looks like a total utopia! Awesome work!

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yoloswagbot191 t1_j7h63e2 wrote

Awesome work here!

Great sky capture :)

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savici t1_j7ik5bj wrote

Is that the Licancabur volcano far away?

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Potential-Salad2970 t1_j7ik9p3 wrote

Charles, just beautiful! The Atacama is on my list. How did you go about getting there. Cheers

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CharlesBrooks OP t1_j7jucc6 wrote

Plane from Auckland to Santiago to Calama, then rented a car. Underestimated the distances, we did a lot of driving just scouting for photo spots.

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hkbreezy8 t1_j7japuo wrote

Pictures like this make me want to quit my job and travel the world

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Ambitious_South_1726 t1_j7jr60j wrote

Nice shot! my best contact with the starry sky was in this desert! for sure the best trip I have ever done, even though the photo is amazing it's only a fraction of the beauty of the sky.

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CharlesBrooks OP t1_j7julit wrote

You could spend years photographing there.... In fact that's what I plan on doing. Setting up a business to take people out for astrophotography. There are heaps of 3-4 hour astronomy tours, but few that give you time to take out your camera and capture scenes like this.

Gets a bit complex as many of the most interesting spots are closed at night (Valle de la luna etc), so I'm negotiating with indigenous leaders to see what can be done.

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UMagnet t1_j7jxyap wrote

That is gorgeous!

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