My first attempt at night sky photography with a digital camera. Not great. Too slow a shutter speed for the focal length. But there's not many stars visible in the DC night sky. The best wide views are buried in light pollution near the southern horizon. The Andromeda Galaxy is not high enough either. I did split one of the many double stars near Vega.
Mark,
You are on the right track. To get a clearer image you might try ISO 100 or 200 and bring your zoom back down to 150 or less and shoot when the subject is close to directly over head. It's the movement of the stars and at that focal length you will get "trailing". The wider the lens, the longer the exposure can be. 10 secs is really puching the light pollution also. Keep trying cause it looks good for a first.
at least you got stars! i would have gotten black screen after black screen...lol. regardless, star watching (preferably while laying in a chaise chair or on a car hood leaning back against the windshield) is one of my favorite things to do. well done, mark!
I don't much about this area... never tried it either. Good for you and I'm sure you'll learn a great deal as time goes by. If you ever get to Colorado try some shots there from that high altitude and clear air.
actually, this is pretty impressive I think. A lot better than anything I have gotten. Demorcan will be the real judge -- I hope he sees it. Nice work.