This was something I kept putting off for a while.

Milky Way panoramas always felt complicated just from watching videos, even before really trying them myself. I’ve taken a few before, but this is my first tracked panorama. Every panel of the sky was shot on a star tracker to get longer exposures and a better signal. It’s a 2×7 mosaic, planned around a short, clear window during my trip to Port Aransas, TX.

This isn’t a random composite; the sky is real, captured under dark skies in Padre Island, south of Port Aransas, TX. The foreground is from a different Nature Preserve at Charlie's Pasture, but aligned to match how the Milky Way would actually appear there. Light pollution just made it impossible to capture both together.

Glad I finally did this properly. Definitely doing more.

Exif:

Camera: Sony a7III + Tamron 17-28mm f2.8

Date: 02/17/2026

Sky: ISO 1600, f/3.2, 60 Sec, 17mm. 2X7 Panel

Foreground: ISo 100, f/10, 1 Sec, 98mm (1X7 Panel) with Sony 70-200 f2.8 G II