DSA1 - ESA Deep Space Tracking Station, New Norcia WA

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DSA1 - ESA Deep Space Tracking Station, New Norcia WA

[Public Domain] 4 Aug 2015 Dylan O'Donnell
CATEGORY : Astrophotography
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The first of a few photographic studies of this beautiful 35m tracking station I had the privilege to photograph this weekend for ESA! Pictured here facing east, the antenna was in operation communicating with the GAIA mission and slowly tracking across the sky! GAIA is doing detailed measurements to create a 3D map of the Milky Way.

This image is on ESA’s homepage today, and their space image archives and (still) available free with Creative Commons – thank you ESA!

Photo details .. 4 x 30s f2.8 ISO 1600 Tokina 11-16mm

Credit: D. O’Donnell/ESA – CC BY-SA 3.0

Also, here is a time-lapse video I shot showing 40 minutes of deep space tracking in 3 seconds.

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EQUIPMENT DYLAN USED
Here is some of the gear this photo was made with. Click for info