Stars and starfish | Astronomy Magazine

Rob Lyons, from Vancouver, British Columbia

The photographer tells how he got this spectacular photo:

I have been trying to take this photograph for three years during my annual trips to Tofino, British Columbia. The first year I couldn't find any starfish. In the second year I found some and made a picture, but the starfish were so small that you would need a telescope to see them. Last year, after a week of searching, I found some on my last night of travel. These starfish were attached to a rock that is located in a popular surfing spot, so the waves are very active. To take the close-up, I shot during the blue hour and used my Sony A7R camera with a 20mm f/1.8 lens to get closer to the starfish. The tide was coming in fast and the starfish was already half submerged, so I worked quickly to capture the photo. I then set up my star tracker in the safety of nearby rock cliffs, took 15 images of the Milky Way (using a Kolari Vision UV/IR cut and Hα pass filter) and stacked them. The two shots were then combined.