Video of Milky Way Rising over Oracle State Park
Posted: 25 June 2014
As part of the Oracle Dark Skies Committee work in preparing a proposal to have Oracle State Park designated as an "International Dark Sky Park" (IDSP), I went to the Park on Tuesday night, 24 June 2014. I arrived about 2030 MST. Upon arrival I could see a large wildfire in the Galiuro Mountains to the east. These are some telephoto shots of the Oak Fire, burning about 25 miles away, starting at 2046 MST and ending at 2106 MST:
Climate change plays a role in the increasing number of wildfires and light pollution is a contributor to climate change through the use of wasted energy resources. Consider that when turning on your outdoor lights at night (or in the daytime).
I began photography of the night sky using a D7000 DSLR with an 8mm 180° fisheye lens at 2123 MST and ended it at 2330 MST. Exposures were taken about every minute using an exposure of f/5, 1 minute, ISO 5000. An 11 second video was created from the 113 individual photos to show the Milky Way rising over Oracle State Park in a span of 2 hours.
Milky Way Rising over Oracle State Park
Click to view time-lapse video (no sound)
The Oak Fire is visible at the bottom with lots of flaring occurring.
Before and after doing the sky photos I did some Sky Quality Measurements for inclusion in the IDSP Nomination Package to the International Dark-Sky Association.
I left the Park about midnight.
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