I've only ever tried this once, and it wasn't much of a success as it was a spur of the moment thing in New Zealand. But I had to at least try as the night skys there are truely amazing.

Of course you need the apature as open as possible. But what is the best film speed to use, and how long should you leave the shutter open to get good pictures of the stars without over exposing them either?

Where is the pic then Will?

Another one thats been to NZ - tell me more...

ISO100 to reduce the noise. The rest depends on what you are trying to do, where you are how bright the object is and what light pollution you have. You may also have to counter for atmospherics

Stars will start to trail over 10 seconds, moon is at 1/400th or faster at 300mm f5.6 - longer for halo's or corona's

Shooting Date/Time
19/02/2006 01:15:33
Shooting Mode
Manual Exposure
Tv( Shutter Speed )
1
Av( Aperture Value )
5.6
Metering Mode
Evaluative Metering
Digital Exposure Compensation
+0.9
ISO Speed
1600
Lens
75.0 - 300.0mm
Focal Length
200.0mm
Image Size
3456x2304
Mid. High
Filter effect Green
Toning effect None
Color Space
sRGB
Noise Reduction
Off
File Size
123KB
Drive Mode
Self-Timer OperatioImage Quality
Superfine
White Balance Mode
Auto
AF Mode
Manual focusing
Parameters Settings
Contrast Mid. High
Sharpness n

This pic didn't work out, or the lousy lab I took it to assumed it was the end of the film and cut it loose without inspection. Probably the former.

Had it worked out though, I'd have had a very nice a clear pic of the milky way and the southern cross.

Probably the latter, it's unlikely that you got nothing at all.
I took a night shot of the millenium dome hand held and just guessed, I hadn't got a clue.It was blurred of course but I got something.

Do you have a link to these piccies?

Will is correct about the NZ night skies. The milky way is awesome and the best views are to be had away from the city areas with their lights, but, having said that you still are able to view the southern night sky in all it's glory.

There are star clusters viewable with the naked eye that can only be seen from down under. As a child I can remember standing in the backyard (back garden to you) gazing at at clear sky looking for a falling star or a satellite which looked like a star moving across the sky.

Oooh and hopefully, I'll have my EOI in soon

I saw so many falling metorites in New Zealand as well. The best one I saw was one hit the atmosphere then break in two. Was so incredible to witness such a rare thing.