Window to the universe

Our view of the night sky is changing. It is more important than ever before, to capture images of the night sky in its entirety

- Josh Dury

When planning to photograph the night sky, we first need to consider what is happening above our heads. The weather, as we know in the UK, can be unpredictable due to the jet stream and weather systems across the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, we need to be prepared to photograph our subjects either in advance, or at the last minute. It is always good to have a number of weather apps to obtain an average for what is happening in the night sky over the coming days and weeks. I tend to use the BBC Weather, Met Office and Ventusky apps. I usually try to plan for a clear sky that avoids any chances of clouds obscuring my shots. It depends on the photographer as to what you capture, but at the same time, clouds can lend some perspective and dynamism to your images. It depends on the subject and narrative you want to achieve.

Light pollution and surrounds

Next, we consider the impact of light pollution from our nearby towns and cities. There are a number of good light pollution maps out there, which indicate the strength of light pollution from your location. Light Pollution Map or LPM, is a good app for measuring the light pollution of your area and shows the effect of artificial light at night, both nationwide and globally. In astronomical terms, this is measured on the Bortle Scale – this is a numeric scale from 1 to 9, with (1) being measured as ‘dark skies’ and (9) as severely ‘light polluted’. Try to find a location which is as dark as possible so you can observe details of greater clarity within the night sky.

KIT LIST

Sony A7S II