Eye to the Image: Simplifying Astrophotography

Have you ever looked at a photo of the night sky and wondered, how ‘real’ is that?

In a world with AI Generated Imagery and Photoshop, education within photography has never been more important. In this brief article, I want to expand on what goes in to making a Milky Way image, and how it compares to what you might see. Astrophotography is all about revealing what our eyes cannot see on their own. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the Milky Way in three stages: what you see with your eyes, what your camera captures, and what careful editing can reveal.

Simulated Naked Eye View

This is a simulated naked eye image depicting roughly what I see in exceptional viewing conditions under the darkest skies on the planet in the Southern Hemisphere, in an area far away from the lights of cities. This image is a 360 capturing the entire sky from horizon to horizon, so keep that in mind when viewing.

The first thing you’ll notice when viewing the Milky Way with your eyes, is that there is very little (if any) colour visible, other than bright stars. This is because of how rods and cones work in our eyes, meaning when our eyes are most sensitive to light, they are least sensitive to colour.

Even though the Milky Way doesn’t appear as vivid or detailed as in a photograph, the experience of standing beneath the faint band of billions of other suns and seeing galaxies with your own eyes, is impressive in a way a photo struggles to convey.

Centre stage is the Milky Way’s galactic core, the middle and brightest part of our galaxy, which is also the best part to see with the great star density. The dark regions (thick dust blocking starlight behind) in the Milky Way along the galactic band stand out strongly. The orange is from sunrise beginning and Venus rising.

Raw Photo Panorama

This is the colour and detail my camera can see the sky in with no editing, and this is where the magic begins. Again, keep in mind this is underneath exceptional dark skies. Unlike our eyes, a camera sensor can collect light over a long time (seconds or minutes), revealing stars, dust clouds, and structure that are otherwise hidden. While our eyes constantly show us “live” feedback, a camera can instead collect this light, revealing the true nature and brightness of the night sky. It takes a lot of experience to get to the level of camera understanding needed to create images like these.

It’s incredible how colourful the night sky actually is, from something called airglow (the green/yellow in this image), which is Earths atmosphere glowing from the suns light it absorbs during the day! This can be seen with your naked eye, but it’s very subtle and colourless!

This picture is a 360 image constructed from many individual photos (26 photos in total) but the colours and brightness have not been changed, so it is in the sense of the word “unedited”.

RAW files are designed to preserve as much information as possible, leaving all the creative control in your hands. A few factors make this capture possible: a modified camera, long shutter speed, a wide aperture, and high ISO, combined with a steady tripod to prevent blur.

Final Processed Image

Editing is the final stage, where the image truly comes alive and transforms into a vibrant representation of the night sky. Editing is about revealing the true detail and depth of what was captured by your camera sensor. This process of raw file to finished product has been refined over my last six years doing astrophotography. I have spent thousands of hours editing astrophotography images to develop a set of tools that work well and represent the night sky how I want to. It combines reality with artistic expression in a great way.

I have increased the contrast and colours of the image, as well as developed the prominence of the dark dust throughout the galactic core. I also brought out star colours from red giants to intense young, blue stars through specific techniques. The Milky Way is also accurate to It’s true beige colour.

In the final image, zodiacal light (strong glow across the sky, starting from the bottom left) can be seen, which is sunlight reflecting off dust in the solar system. I have also revealed the finer details in the Milky Way band, including hydrogen regions (central red patches) with a specific technique and filter.

Processing astronomy images is an art that comes with many challenges, and also rewards. It is sometimes either the most enjoyable part of creating images, or the most difficult. Either way, it’s always worth it!

Astrophotography is a unique blend of science and creativity.

From the faint glow you see with your eyes, to the hidden detail captured by a camera, to the final edit that brings it all together, it’s a special experience that ties together many elements, challenges, and rewards.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you understand a bit more about the stages of producing an astro photograph! If you'd like to dive deeper and learn how to understand the ins and outs of astrophotography, I will be sharing my knowledge through workshops and tutorials coming soon. Keep an eye out for future workshops and programs, or contact me HERE if you are interested to learn more 1:1!