Extreme Wide Panorama of Winter Milky Way in Hydrogen-alpha Emission Reveals Deep Sky Wonders from Cygnus to Gum Nebula
Alqueva´s Dark Sky Reserve | By Year: 2025 | By Year: 2026 | Deep Sky Wide Field | Milky Way & Infrared | VR 360º
I always dreamed about being able to capture an extreme large panorama in H-alpha to reveal all the nebulae visible in hydrogen emission along the path of Winter Milky Way, which is incredible rich. Finally last 20th November 2025 the opportunity arrived and I was able to achieve the goal on a winter clear night at Dark Sky® Alqueva region. I had a lot of challenges in the way to process this gigantic panorama. APP program totally fail for all my attempts due to the extreme size which overload its capacity, so I only calibrated the images there. And develop a different method using PT GUI Pro with as my favourite program for panoramas which worked pretty well and fast. As the original file resolution was more than 1 Million pixels I had to resize it to be able to export as TIF as well as using camera raw. The final resolution is about 32000×16000. I also wanted to create a VR360 experience so the final panorama is an equirectangular image covering around 210º of the sky from edge to edge, beyond the Milky Way and Ha emission around like Eridanus Loop, there is a gradual fade to dark empty space. The final image is quiet big with more than half a million Megapixels, from 46 single images of 3 minutes exposure each, using an adaptation I did for a Baader 7nm Ha filter screwed in front of my Sony 50mm GMaster f1.2 running on a Vixen Polarie U star tracker portable mount. I captured everything in one single night over the course of a few hours starting while Cygnus was setting and finished after Canis Major was very high, so I was able to capture the Ha emission from Cygnus region up to the beginning of Gum nebula, and I was so surprise for being able to capture it from our latitude of 38º at Dark Sky® Alqueva in Portugal. Below, is the monochromatic image of the red channel separately, as well as some close-ups at 75% of the real size and the VR360 image. I hope you enjoy it.
PT: Sempre sonhei em captar um panorama extremamente grande em H-alfa que pudesse revelar todas as nebulosas visíveis na emissão de hidrogénio ao longo da Via Láctea de inverno, que é incrivelmente rica. Finalmente, em novembro passado, surgiu a oportunidade e consegui alcançar o meu objetivo. Enfrentei muitos desafios no processamento deste gigantesco panorama. O programa APP falhou redondamente em todas as minhas tentativas devido ao tamanho extremo, que sobrecarregou a sua capacidade, pelo que acabei por apenas calibrar as imagens lá. Desenvolvi um método diferente utilizando o PT GUI Pro, o meu programa favorito para panoramas, que funcionou muito bem e rapidamente. Como a resolução original do ficheiro era superior a 1 milhão de pixeis, precisei de o redimensionar para poder exportá-lo em TIF sem exceder of 4GB e para poder utilizar a Camera Raw. A resolução final é de aproximadamente 32000 x 16000. Também tinha no plano inicial criar uma experiência VR360, pelo que o panorama final é uma imagem equirretangular cobrindo cerca de 210º do céu de um extremo ao outro. Assim, para além da Via Láctea e da emissão de H-alfa circundante como o Eridanus Loop, há um desvanecimento gradual para o espaço vazio e escuro. A imagem final é bastante grande, com mais de meio milhão de megapixeis, resultante de 46 imagens individuais com 3 minutos de exposição cada, utilizando uma adaptação que fiz para um filtro Baader Ha de 7nm acoplado à minha lente Sony 50mm GMaster f1.2, montada numa montagem portátil Vixen Polarie U para fazer o acompanhamento sideral. Captei tudo numa única noite, ao longo de muitas horas, começando enquanto a região do Cisne se punha e terminando quando o Cão Maior já estava bem alto no céu. Assim, consegui captar a emissão Ha desde a região do Cisne até ao início da Nebulosa da Goma, e fiquei muito surpreendido por o conseguir fazer a partir da nossa latitude de 38º no Dark Sky® Alqueva, em Portugal. Embaixo, é possível apreciar a imagem monocromática resultante do canal vermelho em separado assim como alguns close-ups a 75% do tamanho real e a imagem VR360 a 16K. Espero que gostem do resultado.
Below: Below you can experience a Virtual Reality 360º in 16K resolution using your desktop. If you use your smartphone with gyroscope on, you can explore up to the zenith where is visible the entire Eridanus Loop. A great “in loco” experience can be achieved if you wear a VR glasses.
PT: Em baixo: O leitor pode assim experienciar esta Realidade Virtual de alta-resolução 16K, usando o seu desktop. Se usar o seu smartphone com o giroscópio ligado, poderá explorar até ao zénite onde é visível na integra a região do Eridanus Loop. Uma ótima experiência “in loco” pode ser alcançada se usar óculos de realidade virtual.
Technical details | Detalhes Técnicos
Nikon Z8 + Sony GMaster 50mm f1.2 lens + Vixen Polarie U portable mount| Single Exp. 3 min at ISO 3200 with Baader 7nm Ha filter | Mosaic of 46 panels. Processing in APP, PT Gui Pro, PixInsight 1.8.9-2 and Photoshop CC 2026. Cpatured in Campinho near the lake, close to Cumeada Observatory from Dark Sky® Alqueva Reserve, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal.
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