Staring into space

Space photography is difficult in Tunbridge Wells due to the light pollution although it presumably wasn't a problem when Frank McClean set up his observatory in the 1870s.

As it it was a clear night on 19 January 2012 , I drove through Crowborough, past the site of Starfield (the home of the astronomer Isaac Roberts) and out to Ashdown Forest. I parked at the King's Standing car park near the site of the Aspidistra transmitter from Word War 2.

I put my 10-24mm lens on the camera, the camera on a tripod and the tripod on the bonnet of my car. I used an aperture of 3.5 and a 30-second exposure. The clouds are reflecting the street lights from Crowborough but the white dots are probably stars.