8-9 here 
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Same here
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That map identifies my backyard as a 5 - I’d be surprised if it’s actually that dark. The 2 that @Celticstar mentioned (which I believe is edging towards a 3) is a 4-5 hr drive from me… I can’t even imagine what a 1 looks like.
We also timed our trip around the new moon so we could shoot astro. I could shoot 10 second exposure at 6400ISO and still capture plenty of info, even with minimal post processing.
It’s so remote out there that one night we set up and left our cameras shooting until the batteries ran out then came back and picked them up the following morning!! This is the result … 650 images at 40 seconds each
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Fantastic. Thanks for sharing…
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Awesome link. According to this, my property is a Bortle 2! Makes sense - on a clear night it is magic - that Milky Way!!! Great photos @BK
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Nice SCP circumpolar shot.
I could not leave my setup all night long because I’d come back in the morning and discover it gone 
Do you have the equipment to shoot a DSO?
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No I don’t unfortunately. That seems like a very steep and expensive learning curve. Also somewhat intimidating. Have you done much of it @Celticstar ?
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The learning curve is not that bad for taking the shots and you are correct it can get expensive but it does not have to be. Look at your what you have achieved with you landscape shots. By the way you were smart to time your trip with the new moon. Astronomy and Astrophotography takes a lot of both planning and patience.
Here are two shots of the Andromeda Galaxy DSO M31, which you can actually see with the naked eye.
M32 and M110 are also in the shot.
This first one is taken with no special equipment other than a DSLR camera and a 135mm lens.
There are 180 1 second shots stacked and processed to get this.
Here is the same Andromeda galaxy with a 560mm lens, star tracker, various filters, including HA, and the same number of shots and exposure time. Total additional equipment cost approximately $3,500CAN.
Past this focal length actual lens you are best to be attaching your camera to a telescope with at least a 6" aperture. More additional cost. 
That 560mm lens was borrowed by the way. I am not interested in trying to compete with the Hubble telescope, which is impossible from earth anyways, although there are those that try. Too much pollution no matter where you are.
There are 88 recognized Constellations at this time. One goal I have had for years was to capture as many as possible. Here is a shot from my front yard where I managed to capture 6 in one session. I was quite proud of myself for that. Some I will never capture because they are too far below the earth’s equator.
My secondary goal is to capture as many of the 110 Messier DSO objects that are out there. To date I have captured about 50%+ of them.
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this is really nice!
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It’s really amazing that you have the knowledge, the background, and the skillsets to produce something like this, @Celticstar . . . 
Cheers and best wishes for your continued success,
Joe
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Brilliant @Celticstar 
best of luck achieving your goal and capturing them all.
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I do not consider it amazing but rather, like learning Bass, just takes time, patience and practice, only more so…
Some of those shots took 4+ hours to process after I had spent about 2 hours in pre-planning the initial shots. If you do not have patience in pre-planning your shots regarding what you want to do and then in post production you will never be able to do it.
In these times of instant gratification most people would not be interested in this sort of thing but as they say different strokes for different folks…
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My other hobby is also related to music. I’ve been an audiophile for nearly 50 (yikes) years. Another reason I took up the bass was because I’ve gotten so much joy out of music for all these years that I thought it would be nice to be able to make some for a change. I’m still working on that part. 
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Where’s your 8-track?
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In the car with all my tapes, of course.
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Haha. That’s where my 8-track player was!
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Where’d you get the “His Master’s Voice” dog?
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I found him at the Rose Bowl Flea Market about 5 years ago.
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Nice find!
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