Stars Timelapses

For the star time-lapses I currently mostly use a Nikon D850 with Nikkor 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens and sometimes a Nikon D3 with 17-25mm f/2.8 lens. Panning is done with the SkyWatcher Star Adventurer mount at half star speed. The PhotoPills app helps align the camera with where the Milky Way is at what time, so that it moves nicely through the frame during the shot. I use the MOIPS Trigger as an intervalometer and take a picture every 25 seconds. The camera's built-in intervalometer locks the camera and you can't adjust the settings in between. On an Android tablet connected via USB runs QDSLDashboard, monitors the histogram of the shots and controls shutter speed and sensitivity for the day/night transitions, maximum 20 seconds and ISO 6400. Editing the images is done with Adobe Lightroom and LRTimelapse with which seamless transitions from day to night, brightness, changing colour temperature, deflickering and exporting as a movie are made. Some videos are further processed with Apple iMovie. More videos are on my YouTube channel.

Timelapse sequences shot on Astrofarm Tivoli in Namibia during the nights from 10 to 17 September 2023. Nikon D850 in RAW-S, Nikkor 14-24 mm 2.8G at 14 mm f/2.8, interval 25s, maximum exposure time 20, maximum ISO 8000. Total over 10'000 single pictures, 74 hours.
Timelapse of Milky Way during a night on 29 October 2022 on the summit of Mount Titlis. One can see the strong lightpollution along the horizon, that comes from Italian cities Milano, Torino and Swiss city Geneva. The news said, there is was an energy crisis in Switzerland, but I could not see that. 2365 RAW images with Nikon D850 and 14 mm f/2.8, interval 25 seconds, maximung 20s exposure and ISO 3200.
Timelapse of 33rd Swiss Star Party 3-5 september 2021 Saturday night on the parking area on top of Gurnigel. Unfortunately we had again many people who drove through the parking area at night, were using the central locking of their cars or didn't turn off their interior light. Please don't do that. You are disturbing people observing and ruining the dark adaption of their eyes. Capture data: 2141 single raw frames, 14.8 hours, Nikon D850, Nikkor 12-24mm f/2.8, interval 25s.
Timelapse of the telescope meeting at Mirasteilas observatory in Falera on 21 August 2020. Passing by clouds are cool for timelapse photography but not for observing the stars through a telescope. Light pollution in Switzerland has increased over the last 30 years. Here in the first part of the movie the yellow clouds are illuminated by the nearby city Chur. In the second part one can see the light dome of the huge italian city Milano. The clouds further away are dark and then turn yellow when they get closer. Also visible is the light pollution caused by the catholic church of Ladir which is like the church of Falera illuminated almost all night for no reason. At least they turn it off at 1 o'clock at night. Electricity is way too cheap. Cameras used: Nikon D3 and Nikon D850.
Timelapse of 32nd Swiss Star Party 14-16 august 2020 on the parking area on top of Gurnigel. Cameras used: Nikon D3 (circum polar) and Nikon D850 (panning).
This timelapse is a combination of 102 frames of 30 seconds exposure time and interval of 35 seconds over a time period of circa one hour. It shows how fast the comet travels across the stars and note how the patterns in the ion tail change. Shot with Nikon D850 and a Nikkor 300mm 2.8D. If you watch closely, you can determine the periodic error of the Vixen GPD2 worm gear
Timelapse of comet C/2020 F3 Neowise in the night of 12/13 July 2020. Wide-angle shots with Nikon D3 and Nikkor 24-70mm 2.8G at 50 mm, f/2.8, maximum 10 seconds and ISO 6400 with 25 seconds interval, panning with Move-Shoot-Move. Close-up shots with Nikon D850 and Nikkor 300mm 2.8D at f/2.8, 1 second exposure with ISO 12800 and 2 seconds interval, guided with a Vixen GP-DX mount and FS2. Location was Bözberg in canton Aargau, Switzerland.
Extended edition of Comet Neowise C/2020 F3 with rare behind the scenes footage. Cameras: Nikon D850 + Nikkor 300mm 2.8D on Vixen GP-DX mount, Nikon D3 + Nikkor 14-24mm. Shot on Bözberg in canton Aargau, Switzerland.
Time lapse of the rising Milky Way, shot at Sattelegg near Einsiedeln, Switzerland. Shot in the night of May 20-21 2020. Some frames had to be deleted due to bypassing cars. That's why the stars jump a bit sometimes. At 0:16 the International Space Station (ISS) is passing by on the left hand side. The other trails are caused by airplanes. Pretty much air traffic despite corona shutdown. Shot with a Nikon D850 on a SkyWatcher Star Adventurer mount with half star speed to pan along the horizon. Interval 25 seconds with MIOPS trigger. Maximum exposure 20 seconds at ISO 6400 with later +1 EV push.
Collection of various time lapse sequences of the night sky, taken with Nikon D3 in the years 2009 through 2018 and Nikon D850 in 2019. Put together with Apple iMovie. Music: "Pale Horses" by Moby, with free license from mobygratis.com.
Swiss star party on concreted observing area at Gurnigel pass in Switzerland. In the old days the Swiss army was shooting here with tanks and fighting enemy mountains. Most of the stargazers were on the other side of the area and was doing CCD astronomy. This site is surrounded by the light pollution of Thun (east), Fribourg (west) and Bern (north). Only south is almost free of pollution. 1529 frames every 30 seconds during about 12 hours. Nikon D850 with Nikkor 14-24mm 2.8G at f/3.5.
Time lapse movie of the total solar eclipse of 11 July 2010 at Mangaia, Cook Islands, as seen from the airstrip at Mangaia airport (Cook Islands). There were three different layers of clouds crossing the sky in different directions.