Big Dipper - Images | Amazing Sky Astrophotography by Alan Dyer

A wide-angle image of the main northern spring sky constellations — with the Big Dipper and Ursa Major at top, and Leo below it. At left is Arcturus in Bootes and at bottom left, Spica in Virgo. Leo is flanked by two large star clusters: Mel111, the Coma Berenices cluster at left of Leo (but in the centre of the image), and M44, the Beehive cluster at right of Leo in Cancer (at lower right in the image). <br />
<br />
This is a good image for illustrating the "Arc to Arcturus and Speed to Spica" expression, as well as the placement of Leo below the Bowl of the Dipper. And the location of the North Galactic Pole and Realm of the Galaxies. <br />
<br />
This is a stack of 4 x 2.5 minute exposures with the RF15-35mm lens at f/2.8 and Canon EOS Ra at ISO 800. The camera was on the Star Adventurer 2i tracker. Taken from home April 27, 2022.

Spring Sky Constellations - Big Dipp...jpg

The Big Dipper over hoodoo formations at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. Arcturus is at left. Illumination of the foreground is from starlight. <br />
<br />
This is a blend of 2 x 3-minute stacked exposures for the ground at f/2.8 and ISO 800 with a single 30-second untracked exposure at f/2 and ISO 6400 for the sky, all with the 24mm Canon L lens on the Canon EOS Ra camera. A mild Orton glow added to the foreground with Luminar AI. ON1 NoNoise applied to the sky. Taken August 29, 2021.

Big Dipper over Hoodoo.jpg

Bands of green airglow in the northern sky through the area of the two Dippers (Big and Little), on a June night. This was from Red Rock Canyon road in Waterton Lakes National Park, June 3, 2021. Clouds coming in add the glows on the stars. The Big Dipper is at top; the Little Dipper is at right. All of Ursa Major is visible above the peak.<br />
<br />
This is a single tracked 2-minute exposure with the MSM Tracker, and 20mm Sigma Art lens at f/2.8 adapted to the Canon EOS Ra at ISO 1600.

Airglow in the Dippers.jpg

A portrait of the Big Dipper and Little Dipper high in the northern spring sky on a moonlit April night. Polaris is at lower left at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper. <br />
<br />
This is a stack of 4 x 1-minute exposures at f/2.8 with the Sigma 24mm Art lens adapted to the Canon EOS Ra at ISO 400, blended with a single image taken through an Alyn Wallace/Kase StarGlow filter plus an exposure taken through a Tiffen 6-point Star filter for added effect. Filter layers blended in with Lighten mode and masked to just the stars to prevent them from affecting the background sky illumination and uniformity. Taken April 20, 2021 from Dinosaur Provincial Park with the camera on the Star Adventurer 2i tracker with the quarter Moon off frame at top.

Two Dippers in Moonlight (24mm EOS R...jpg

Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) on July 22-23, 2020 below the Big Dipper and in Ursa Major, and with prominent red and green bands of airglow which were more obvious tonight than on previous nights shooting the comet. Even with the bright sky the comet’s faint blue ion tail can be traced up past the Bowl of the Big Dipper.<br />
<br />
This is a stack of 5 x 2-minute tracked exposures with the 35mm Canon lens at f/2.8 and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 800, on the iOptron SkyGuider Pro tracker. Taken from Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. An active thunderstorm was on the horizon below this scene, lighting the sky with flashes. Stacked and aligned in Photoshop. I’ve made only minimal effort here to eliminate the sky gradients and colours, but instead embraced them! The air was also dusty this night with reduced transparency.

Comet NEOWISE in Ursa Major with Air...jpg

Another incredible sky this night!<br />
<br />
This is Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) over the badlands formations at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta on July 22-23, 2020, with the Big Dipper above. A very active thunderstorm system moving northeastward this night but well to the west of me lights the horizon. Parallel bands of red and green airglow tint the sky, as does the blue of lingering summer twilight. Even with the bright sky the comet’s blue ion tail can be traced up to and past the Bowl of the Big Dipper. <br />
<br />
This is an exposure blend, with the landscape from a stack of seven exposures from 2.5 to 3.5 minutes long at f/2.8 and ISO 1600, stacked to smooth noise, blended with a single untracked 30-second exposure for the sky at ISO 6400 at f/2, all with the Sigma 24mm lens and Canon EOS Ra camera. The ground is illuminated by starlight and sky light only; no light painting was used here. Topaz DeNoise AI applied to the sky; Sharpen AI applied to the ground. Some light sculpting applied to the ground with a Dodge and Burn layer and a luminosity mask, to make the foreground less flat in lighting.

Comet NEOWISE with Big Dipper at Din...jpg

A faint aurora in the moonlight over the coastal mountains of northern Norway north of Tromsø, from at sea on the ms Trollfjord. The Big Dipper is at centre. Illumination is from a waxing gibbous Moon.<br />
<br />
A single 1.3-second exposure at f/2 with the 15mm lens and Sony a7III at ISO 3200.

Faint Aurora from Norway with Big Di...jpg

A faint aurora in the moonlight over the coastal mountains of northern Norway north of Tromsø, from at sea. The Big Dipper is at left. Illumination is from a waxing gibbous Moon. This is from Deck 6 forward from the ms Trollfjord.<br />
<br />
A single 1.3-second exposure at f/2 with the 15mm lens and Sony a7III at ISO 3200.

Faint Aurora with Big Dipper from De...jpg

The Big Dipper and Ursa Major over the Viking Hall at the Lofotr Viking Museum in the Lofoten Islands, Norway on an unusally clear night, but alas with no aurora. Illumination is from moonlight and the sidewalk lights along the pathnways there. In Viking skylore, the Big Dipper was Karlwagn, the Men’s Chariot. The Little Dipper was Kvennavagn, the Woman's chariot.<br />
<br />
The Lofotr Viking Museum (Lofotr Vikingmuseum) is a historical museum based on a reconstruction and archaeological excavation of a Viking chieftain's village on the island of Vestvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the small village of Borg, near Bøstad, in the municipality of Vestvågøy.<br />
<br />
This is a stack of 4 x 5-second exposures with the 15mm Venus Optics lens at f/2 and Sony a7III at ISO 3200.

Big Dipper over Viking Hall.jpg

The Big Dipper and Ursa Major plus the Little Dipper or Ursa Minor over the Viking Hall at the Lofotr Viking Museum in the Lofoten Islands, Norway on an unusally clear night, but alas with no aurora. Illumination is from moonlight and the sidewalk lights along the pathnways there. In Viking skylore, the Big Dipper was Karlwagn, the Men’s Chariot. The Little Dipper was Kvennavagn, the Woman's chariot.<br />
<br />
The Lofotr Viking Museum (Lofotr Vikingmuseum) is a historical museum based on a reconstruction and archaeological excavation of a Viking chieftain's village on the island of Vestvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the small village of Borg, near Bøstad, in the municipality of Vestvågøy.<br />
<br />
This is a stack of 4 x 5-second exposures with the 15mm Venus Optics lens at f/2 and Sony a7III at ISO 3200.

Big and Little Dippers over Viking H...jpg

The Big Dipper and all of Ursa Major in the deep twilight of an August evening, at Eastend, Saskatchewan, with an old farmstead building in the foreground. Shot August 28, 2019. <br />
<br />
This is a blend of a single long 5-minute exposure at ISO 400 for the dark ground, and a single short 30-second exposure at ISO 1600 for the bright sky. Both with the 24mm Sigma Art lens and Nikon D750. LENR not applied (by mistake — I forgot!) to the long ground exposure, so I had to employ a Dust and Scratches filter in post to eliminate all the hot pixels on this warm night. Serves as a good demo of why you should use LENR. A mild Orton glow added to the sky, and a mild application of a “Dramatic Landscape” filter added to the ground, both with Luminar Flex.

Big Dipper over Old Farmstead.jpg

The constellation of Ursa Major, with the Big Dipper or Plough, photographed in deep twilight on May 27, 2019 from home. I shot this before the sky gat completely dark but before this area of sky got too low in the northwest. At bottom are the line of paired stars called The Three Leaps of the Gazelle. <br />
<br />
This is a stack of 3 x 1-minute tracked exposures with the 35mm lens at f/2.8 and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 800, plus a similar exposure blended in but taken through the Kenko Softon diffusion filter to add the star glows. GradientXterminator filter applied to even out twilight gradients.

Ursa Major in Twilight (35mm 6DII).jpg

The SpaceX Starlink satellite train from the first group of 60 satellites launched, captured May 26/27, 2019 from home in southern Alberta as they traveled through the Big Dipper high overhead at approximately 12:55 a.m. May 27, 2019. <br />
<br />
Most of the few dozen satellites were faint but on this pass 4 were quite bright, and easily naked eye, and similar to the Big Dipper stars in magnitude. Polaris is at lower right at the end of the Little Dipper handle.<br />
<br />
This is a frame grab from a 4K video at ISO 52000 with the Sony a7III and Canon 24mm lens at f/1.4. I stacked 8 frames to smooth noise but the satellites themselves are from one frame to keep them point like. Taking a longer exposure still image at a lower ISO was not an option here as the moving satellites would have blurred into a streak looking much like any single satellite trail. So taking a video at an ultra-high ISO speed, then extracting still frames was the method of choice though it produces a noisy image.

Starlink Satellite Train in Big Dipp...jpg

The northern spring constellation of Ursa Major framed to include the three pairs of stars at bottom that mark his paws and that are also known as the “Three Leaps of the Gazelle” from Arabic star lore. This asterism is very prominent to the naked eye as a series of similarly paired double stars across the sky, high overhead in spring. The Big Dipper asterism is at top, aka the Plough or Saucepan, or Wagon. I framed this to also include the Coma Berenices star cluster, Mel 111, at lower left. <br />
<br />
This is a stack of 6 x 1-minute exposures with the Canon 35mm L-series lens at f/2.8 and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 800, plus two similar exposures with the Kenko Softon A filter to add the star glows, with those exposures blended in with a Lighten mode. Taken from home on the Mach 1 mount April 29, 2019.

Ursa Major with the Three Leaps of t...jpg

The Big Dipper and Arcturus in the evening twilight at Tibbitt Lake on the Ingraham Trail near Yellowknife, NWT on September 8, 2018. <br />
<br />
This is a single exposure, not HDR, as the HDR produced double stars and odd artifacts on the star images do to their motion. This is 13 seconds at f/2.8 with the Sigma 14mm lens and Nikon D750 at ISO 400.

Big Dipper in Twilight at Tibbitt La...jpg

The Big Dipper and Arcturus (at left) over a single tipi at the Two Trees site at Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, August 6, 2018. <br />
<br />
This is a stack of 10 exposures, mean combined to smooth noise, for the ground, and one untracked exposure for the sky, all 30 seconds at f/2.8 with the 20mm Sigma lens and Nikon D750 at ISO 6400. <br />
<br />
Light cloud passing through added the natural star glows, enlarging the stars and making the pattern stand out. No soft focus filter was employed, and illumination is from starlight. No light painting was employed. Some airglow and aurora colour the sky.<br />
<br />
A Glow filter from ON1 Photo Raw applied to the sky to further soften the sky.

Big Dipper over Tipi at Grasslands.jpg

The circumpolar stars in the northern sky above trees at Herbert Lake, Banff National Park. At left is Ursa Major and the Big Dipper; at right is the W of Cassiopeia; at centre is Polaris and Ursa Minor or the Little Dipper. <br />
<br />
A blue glow of twilight to the north, and some faint red and green bands of airglow tint the sky. <br />
<br />
This is a stack of four exposures for the trees, mean combined to smooth noise, and one exposure for the sky, all 30 seconds at f/2 with the Laowa 15mm lens, and Sony a7III at ISO 6400.

Northern Sky Above Trees.jpg

The Big Dipper over the iconic Castle Mountain in Banff National Park, Alberta, with a backdrop of a faint aurora in the northern sky. <br />
<br />
This was at 3 am on July 16, 2018, and taken from the Castle Cliffs viewpoint on the Bow Valley Parkway. The sky was also brightening with dawn twilight blue. <br />
<br />
This is a stack of 8 exposures for the ground, mean combined to smooth noise, and one exposure for the sky. All 30 seconds at f/2 with the Sigma 24mm Art lens, and Nikon D750 at ISO 3200. LENR dark frame subtraction applied in camera.

Big Dipper over Castle Mountain.jpg

The Big and Little Dippers, and Polaris, over Castle Mountain in Banff National Park, with the scene lit by starlight. A faint aurora adds the sky colour, as does the oncoming morning twilight. <br />
<br />
This is a 3-segment vertical panorama, each 30 seconds at f/2 with the Sigma 24mm lens and Nikon D750 at ISO 3200. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.

Dippers over Castle Mountain.jpg

A scene of Earth and sky, with Big Dipper over the late Cretaceous sedimentary layers of the Red Deer River Badlands.<br />
<br />
The Big Dipper is at top pointing down to Polaris and the Little Dipper, over the moonlit Badlands on Highway 10 east of Drumheller, Alberta. Light from the waxing gibbous Moon provides the illumination on April 26, 2018. <br />
<br />
This is a stack of 5 x 15-second exposures for the ground to smooth noise, and one 15-second exposure for the sky, all at f/4 with the Rokinon 14mm SP lens and Sony a7III camera at ISO 800. Nik Sharpener applied to the ground.<br />
<br />
The Dipper is distorted slightly by the pincushion distortion of the 14mm lens. The Moon off frame to the right adds the gradient to the sky.

Big Dipper over the Badlands.jpg

$A dim arc of aurora below the constellations of Ursa Minor (at top left below Polaris) and Ursa Major (at centre), with the Big Dipper most prominent at centre. A stack of 3 x 15 second exposures for the ground to smooth noise, and a single 15-second exposure for the sky, all at f/2 with the 14mm Sigma Art lens and Nikon D750 at ISO 3200. Taken from home January 13, 2018. Star diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools actions.$

Aurora and the Two Bears (14mm D750).jpg

The Big Dipper dipping below the Badland hills on a late autumn or early winter evening at the Hoodoos in the Red Deer River valley near Drumheller, Alberta. Illumination is from the waxing gibbous Moon. <br />
<br />
A stack of 4 exposures for the ground to smooth noise and a single exposure for the sky, all 10 seconds at f/2.8 with the 24mm lens and Nikon D750 at ISO 800.

Big Dipper at the Hoodoos.jpg

A selfie looking north to the Big and Little Dippers at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, on a very clear moonlit night November 27, 2017. Polaris is at top; Vega is setting at far left. <br />
<br />
A single 15-second exposure with the Rokinon 14mm f/2.5 lens and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 2000, with LENR applied. The Moon was just past first quarter.

Selfie at Dino Park Looking North.jpg

A moonlit nightscape of the badlands loop road in Dinosaur Provincial Park, arcing off toward the Big Dipper in the northern sky. Vega is setting at far left. Polaris is at top centre. Light is from the 8-day waxing Moon. <br />
<br />
A stack of 6 x 15-second exposures mean combined to smooth noise for the ground, and a single 15-second exposure for the sky, all at f/2.5 with the Rokinon 14mm lens and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 2000.

Road to Big Dipper at Dino Park.jpg

The northern circumpolar sky with the Big Dipper at right rising, and Deneb in Cygnus and Vega in Lyra at left settting, over the moonlit badland hills of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, on November 27, 2017. The Dipper points up to Polaris and the Little Dipper. The Moon was a day past first quarter. Polaris and the Little Dipper are at centre, so this is looking north to the circumpolar sky.<br />
<br />
This is a stack of 6 x 15-second exposures for the ground, mean combined to smooth noise, and a single 15-second exposure for the sky, all with the Rokinon 14mm lens at f/2.5 and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 1600, with LENR on. I applied a 3-pixel Gaussian blur to a duplicate sky layer, blended with Lighten, to add an “Orton effect” style glow to the stars.

Circumpolar Sky over Dino Park.jpg

The Big Dipper at right rising, and Deneb and Cygnus at left settting, over the moonlit badland hills of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, on November 27, 2017. The DIpper points up to Polaris and the Little Dipper. The Moon was a day past first quarter. Polaris and the Little Dipper are at centre, so this is looking north to the circumpolar sky. Deneb is setting at left.<br />
<br />
This is a stack of 4 x 15-second exposures for the ground, mean combined to smooth noise, and a single 15-second exposure for the sky, all with the Rokinon 14mm lens at f/2.5 and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 1600, with LENR on. I applied a 3-pixel Gaussian blur to a duplicate sky layer, blended with Lighten, to add an “Orton effect” style glow to the stars.

Northern Sky over Dino Park.jpg

The Big Dipper on the ascent over the moonlit badland hills of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, on November 27, 2017. The DIpper points up to Polaris and the Little Dipper. The Moon was a day past first quarter. <br />
<br />
This is a stack of 6 x 15-second exposures for the ground, mean combined to smooth noise, and a single 15-second exposure for the sky, all with the Rokinon 14mm lens at f/2.5 and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 1600, with LENR on. I applied a 3-pixel Gaussian blur to a duplicate sky layer, blended with Lighten, to add an “Orton effect” style glow to the stars.

The Dippers over Badlands.jpg

The Big Dipper and Ursa Major (at upper right), Arcturus (left of centre), and the waxing 6-day Moon (overexposed at left) in the deep twilight at Reesor Lake in the Cypress Hills, Alberta, July 29, 2017. The Big Dipper is slightly distorted by the wide-angle lens. <br />
<br />
This is a single 30-second exposure with the Rokinon 14mm SP lens at f/2.5 and Canon 6D at ISO 800.

Big Dipper and Waxing Moon at Reesor...jpg

A panorama of the western sky in deep twilight at Reesor Lake in the Cypress Hills of southeast Alberta, in the Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, a Dark Sky Preserve. The sky is still deep blue with twilight and the sky to the northwest bright with the last of the sunset glow. The bright object at left to the southwest is the 5-day-old waxing crescent Moon, overexposed. Jupiter is just below the Moon. Spica is below and to the left of the Moon. Arcturus is the bright star at upper left. The Big Dipper is at upper right, distorted slightly due to the equirectangular map projection of the panorama stitching. Polaris is at upper right. <br />
<br />
Shot from the east end of Reesor Lake, near the dam and causeway over to the campground. <br />
<br />
This is a 6-panel panorama with the 20mm Sigma Art lens and Nikon D750, with the camera turned portrait for more vertical coverage. Stitched with PTGui.

Deep Twilight at Reesor Lake Panoram...jpg

The Big Dipper in deep sunset twilight over Reesor Lake in the Cypress Hills of southeast Alberta. Taken July 28, 2017. <br />
<br />
This is a single exposure with the 20mm Sigma Art lens (13 seconds at f/2/2) and Nikon D750 (ISO 100).

Big Dipper over Reesor Lake in Twili...jpg

A vertical panorama of the northern spring sky, from Virgo and Corvus above the horizon up through Coma Berenices and Leo, and to Ursa Major and the Big Dipper at top at the zenith from this latitude (50° N). The handle of the Dipper points down to Arcturus at left in Böotes, and then down to Spica, with bright Jupiter then just above Spica (in March 2017). <br />
<br />
The diffuse glow of Gegenschein is visible between Leo and Virgo, upper right of Jupiter and Spica.<br />
<br />
The image is designed for use to illustrate the Big Dipper pointing down to Arcturus and Regulus and the relative positions of the major spring constellations. <br />
<br />
This is a stitch of 7 frames, each 20 seconds at f/2 with the Sigma 20mm Art lens and Nikon D750 at ISO 3200, untracked. Stitched in ACR.

Spring Sky Panorama (March 18, 2017).jpg

The Big Dipper over Pyramid Mountain and Pyramid Lake in Jasper National Park, Alberta, October 19, 2016, taken after moonrise of the waning Moon, now lighting the sky and clouds. Some foreground illumination comes from lights across the lake on the Pyramid Lake Lodge. Clouds were moving in but add a nice texture and colours to the sky.<br />
<br />
This is from a latitude of 54° N so the Big Dipper does not set and is circumpolar despite it being at its lowest point in the sky for the year in the northern autumn season. <br />
<br />
This is a stack of 8 x 20-second exposures for the ground, mean combined to reduce noise, and one 20-second exposure for the sky, all at ISO 6400 with the Sigma 20mm lens at f/2 and Nikon D750. This was from the end of 350 frames shot for a time-lapse sequence.

Big Dipper in Clouds over Pyramid Mo...jpg

The Big Dipper over Pyramid Mountain and Pyramid Lake in Jasper National Park, Alberta, October 19, 2016, on a dark moonless night before moonrise. Some foreground illumination comes from lights across the lake on the Pyramid Lake Lodge. The sky has some green from airglow or diffuse aurora. Haze and thin clouds add the natural glows around the stars. No filter was used here.<br />
<br />
This is from a latitude of 54° N so the Big Dipper does not set and is circumpolar despite it being at its lowest point in the sky for the year in the northern autumn season. <br />
<br />
This is a stack of 8 x 20-second exposures for the ground, mean combined to reduce noise, and one 20-second exposure for the sky, all at ISO 6400 with the Sigma 20mm lens at f/2 and Nikon D750. This was from 350 frames shot for a time-lapse sequence.

Big Dipper over Pyramid Mountain.jpg

The Big Dipper reflected in the still waters of the lake at Police Outpost Provincial Park, in southern Alberta, on September 26, 2016, with an aurora to the north at right. Only in autumn can one shoot the Dipper reflected in the water in the evening sky, as it is then riding low along the northern horizon. This is from a latitude of 49° N where the Dipper is circumpolar. It is also called the Plough in Great Britain.<br />
<br />
This is a stack of 4 x 25 second exposures for the dark ground to smooth noise and one 25-second exposure for the sky and water, all with the 25mm Canon lens at f/2.2 and Canon 6D at ISO 3200. Taken with dark frame LENR on.

Big Dipper Reflection.jpg

The Big Dipper in hazy clouds over the Waterton River at Maskinonge Pond, September 23, 2016, taken at the Night Photography Workshop I conducted there that night. The glow at right is light pollution from the Shell Waterton Gas Plant and from Pincher Creek to the north. <br />
<br />
This is a stack of 5 x 30 second exposures, mean combined to smooth noise, and one 30-second exposure for the sky, all with the Sigma 20mm lens at f/2.2, and Nikon D750 at ISO 3200.

Big Dipper over Waterton River.jpg

$The Big Dipper and a diffuse aurora over the old barn near home, in southern Alberta, on September 16, 2016. The waning gibbous Moon off camera at right provides the illumination. This is a stack of 5 exposures, averaged, for the ground to smooth noise and one exposure for the sky to keep the stars untrailed. All 13 seconds at f/2.8 with the Sigma 20mm lens, and ISO 1600 with the Nikon D750. Diffraction spikes on stars added with Noel Carboni’s Astronomy Tools actions.$

Big Dipper and Aurora over Old Barn ...jpg

$The Big Dipper and a diffuse aurora over the old barn near home, in southern Alberta, on September 16, 2016. The waning gibbous Moon off camera at right provides the illumination. This is a stack of 4 exposures, averaged, for the ground to smooth noise and one exposure for the sky to keep the stars untrailed. All 13 seconds at f/2.8 with the Sigma 20mm lens, and ISO 1600 with the Nikon D750. Diffraction spikes on stars added with Noel Carboni’s Astronomy Tools actions.$

Big Dipper and Aurora over Old Barn ...jpg

The Big Dipper and the complete constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, in the northwest on a summer evening, amid the solstice twilight at Forget-Me-Not Pond, Kananaskis, Alberta. Polaris is at the very top. <br />
<br />
This is a stack of 4 exposures for the ground to smooth noise and 1 exposure for the sky, all 30 seconds at f/2.2 and ISO 3200 with the Sigma 24mm lens and Nikon D750.

Ursa Major Above The Pines.jpg

$The Big Dipper (at right) and Arcturus (at left) above the treetops at Forget-Me-Not Pond at Kananaskis, Alberta, June 26/27, 2016, in the deep blue of summer solstice twilight. The “arc to Arcturus” path from the Dipper down to Arcturus is well-shown here. This is a stack of 4 exposures for the ground to smooth noise, and 1 exposure for the sky, all 25 seconds at f/2.2 and ISO 3200 with the Sigma 24mm and Nikon D750. Diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools.$