Semester 2 2017-18

Intro to Astronomy and Astrophysics

Star Trail and the Milky Way

Submitted by:
Sunny Agrawal- 2016A4PS0297G
Shubham Jain- 2014B5A40633G

Under the guidance of

Dr. Tarun Kumar Jha
 Star Trail
Introduction
A star trail is a type of photograph that uses long exposure times to capture the
apparent motion of stars in the night sky due to Earth's rotation. It shows individual
stars as streaks across the image, with longer exposures yielding longer arcs.
Typical shutter speeds for a star trail range from 15 minutes to several hours,
requiring a "Bulb" setting on the camera to open the shutter for a period longer
than usual. Star trails are also sometimes to measure the quality of observing
locations for major telescopes. Star trail observations of Polaris have been used to
measure the quality of seeing in the atmosphere, and the vibrations in telescope
mounting systems.

Effect of Earth’s Rotation

Our main aim, as stated previously, was to show that Star trails are observed due to
the rotation of Earth about its axis. The axis of earth, points towards the North Star,
and hence it appears stationary. All other stars rotate about the North Star in CW
arcs, to form a star trail. The apparent motion of the stars is recorded as mostly
curved streaks on the film or detector. For observers in the Northern Hemisphere,
aiming the camera northward creates an image with concentric circular arcs
centered on the north celestial pole. For those in the Southern Hemisphere, this
same effect is achieved by aiming the camera southward. In this case, the arc
streaks are centered on the south celestial pole.

Capturing the Star Trail

Star trail photographs are captured by placing a camera on a tripod, pointing the
lens toward the night sky, and allowing the shutter to stay open for a long period of
time. These images by using an SLR camera with its lens focus set to infinity. A
cable release allows us to hold the shutter open for the desired amount of time.
Typical exposure times range from 15 minutes to many hours long, depending on
the desired length of the star trail arcs for the image Even though star trail pictures
are created under low-light conditions, long exposure times allow fast films, such
as ISO 200 and ISO 400.
Apparatus used and Procedure followed
The Observations were made and pictures clicked from the Cricket Ground on
October 18th, 2018 starting at about 11 pm. The Camera used for taking the
pictures was Nikon d5200 mounted over a tripod. The Sensitivity was chosen to be
ISO 400 as it gave the clearest pictures. The shutter speed was kept to be 1/30 with
the focus at infinity. 400 consecutive photos were taken over a span of about three
and a half hours with each photo taking a time of 30 seconds. After this the
pictures were edited in various Software like Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop,
etc. All these pictures were stacked together thus giving us the final star trail
photograph. The film was made using Movie Maker Software to stack the photos
to make a trail.

Final Photograph of the Star Trail

 Milky Way Galaxy
Introduction
All of the stars in the night sky are residents of a galaxy - the Milky Way. We are
also residents of this galaxy. The Earth orbits the Sun, and the Sun orbits the center
of our galaxy. Because of our position, we can see some of the galaxy as a band
stretching across the sky. The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy with a diameter
between 150,000 and 200,000 light-years (ly). It is estimated to contain 100–400
billion stars. There are probably at least 100 billion planets in the Milky Way.

Appearance
The Milky Way is visible from Earth as a hazy band of white light, some 30° wide,
arching across the night sky. The light originates from the accumulation of
unresolved stars and other material located in the direction of the galactic plane.
Dark regions within the band, such as the Great Rift and the Coal-sack, are areas
where interstellar dust blocks light from distant stars. The area of sky that the
Milky Way obscures is called the Zone of Avoidance. As viewed from Earth, the
visible region of the Milky Way's galactic plane occupies an area of the sky that
includes 30 constellations. The Galactic Center lies in the direction of Sagittarius,
where the Milky Way is brightest. From Sagittarius, the hazy band of white light
appears to pass around to the galactic anti-center in Auriga. The band then
continues the rest of the way around the sky, back to Sagittarius, dividing the sky
into two roughly equal hemispheres.

Capturing the Milky Way

The Milky Way has a relatively low surface brightness. Its visibility can be greatly
reduced by background light, such as light pollution or moonlight. The sky needs
to be darker than about 20.2 magnitude per square arc-second in order for the
Milky Way to be visible. This makes the Milky Way difficult to see from brightly
lit urban or suburban areas, but very prominent when viewed from rural areas
when the Moon is below the horizon.
Apparatus used and Procedure followed
The Observations were made and pictures clicked at Vattavada (Munnar) on 2nd
November, 2018 at about 1 pm. The Milky Way is seen very clearly due to absence
of Light and Air Pollution which are the main reasons that it is not seen clearly
from the campus. The Camera used for taking the pictures was Nikon d5200. The
Sensitivity was chosen to be ISO 200 as it gave the clearest pictures. The shutter
speed was kept to be 1/30 with the focus at infinity. In the following image the
pinkish band extending across the night sky is the observable arc of the Milky Way
Galaxy. The picture is then edited in various Software like Adobe Lightroom,
Adobe Photoshop, etc.

Final Photograph of the Milky Way

Main Conclusions
1. The axis of earth, points towards the north-star, and hence it appears
stationary. All other stars rotate about the north-star in CW arcs, to form a
star trail.
2. The Milky Way is visible from Earth as a hazy band of white light, some 30°
wide, arching across the night sky. The pinkish band extending across the
night sky is the observable arc of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Difficulties Faced and Learnings

1. Bad weather conditions were sometimes faced on the scheduled date of
observations and thus rescheduling was needed several times. Thus a lot of
patience and perseverance is required for Astronomy observations.
2. Finding the proper setting for the Camera was a tedious job and several
settings had to be tried before getting the final photograph. Thus a lot of new
things about Astrophotography and Photography in general was learned.
3. Even after the photos were taken editing them to get the desired result
required skills in various software which were learnt during the course of
this project.
4. In the end it can be surely said that pursuing and completing this project
successfully was a fulfilling job and many new skills were acquired along
the way.