Astrophotography in Namibia, 2009

I spend nine nights, some 180 km southeast of Windhoek in Namibia, in september 2009. The last three nights were outstanding in transparency and darkness. The Zodical Light was "The Light Pollution"! Various lenses were used in front of my DSLR Canon 350D camera. During nights, the temperature could plummet to some -C degrees outdoor.  In the afternoon it could climb to +36 C. The very dry air made this temperaturespan unnoticed, had you not have access to a temperature gauge.

	The Milky Way and Zodiacal Light ("The Light Pollution!") in the early nights.
	The Lagoon nebula (M8) in all its splendor.
	The Gegenschein was an easy task to spot walking over the night sky at the antisolar point. Jupiter is seen in the middle.
	Large Mangellanic Cloud was a spectacular object to watch and catch.

Astrophotography in Namibia, 2012

I spend another spell of nights, at the same site as above, some 180 km southeast of Windhoek in Namibia, in july 2012. The weather was perfect this time, although one night was at - 6 C and the house was on the uncomfortable cool temperature scale for the whole week. But, coming from Sweden it poses no real problem. We are used to it.

WARNING!
Do avoid Air Namibia!
They are expensive. Their aircrafts lack maintenance.  They have ZERO passengerservice, should any problem occur. Delays are a standard procedure. They convert your booked night-flight into a day-flight in a heartbeat.

	The Milky Way seen west, after midnight.
	The Milky Way low in the west and the only clouds visible at all: LMC and SMC. The Zodiacal band is obvious. And airglow low in the south (right).
	The Milky Way at zenith. This (extended) lightsource made walking  in the "dark", a trivial task with your eyes dark adapted.
	The Ophiuchus Scorpius area is filled with dust lanes, emissions, colours.
	The Lagoon nebula (M8) and the Trifid nebula (M20).
	Eta Carina, is like Orion (see below) for the northerners. Anything (red) will stick in the photo.
	The Orion Nebula (M42) was low in the morning horizon, but as splendid as at home.
	Hard to resist to capture, the Horse Head Nebula, in the early mornings!
	The Helix Nebula high in the sky, after midnight. NGC 7293.

Astrophotography in Ha in Namibia, 2012

As an extra bonus I used a 35 nm Ha-filter on the camera. A lot of nebulae to shoot, albeit on the noisy side.

	The Tarantula nebula in LMC. NGC 2070.
	The Lagoon nebula (M8) and the Trifid nebula (M20).
	The Cat's Paw nebula. NGC 6334.
	The Eagle nebula (M16).