denny.yang
Two Galaxies over Yosemite
I recently visited Yosemite National Park for 1.5 days around Labor Day and although astrophotography wasn’t originally high on my list of things to-do, the conditions were just too good to pass up that day. This was prime summer Milky Way season and it was to be visible at a reasonable time just a few hours after sunset. Being in Yosemite we were also away from most city light pollution, the waxing crescent moon would be setting not too long after sunset to avoid too much additional light yet be just bright enough to help illuminate El Capitan and other parts of the valley, and the forecast was for perfectly cloudless skies.
As a novice to astrology, I knew I had captured a part of the Milky Way, but it wasn’t until after coming home and doing more research that I realized that bright dot with a swirl around it near the middle of the picture was probably not a planet, but actually the Andromeda Galaxy, the next closest major galaxy to the Milky Way at 2.5 million light years away. Unfortunately, the streaking line was likely not the International Space Station, as it would not have been passing over Yosemite at that time, so my best guess is a satellite or meteorite.
With cars passing through the valley and in the parking lot helping to illuminate the trees, it was quite amazing to capture all these different components plus two different galaxies over an iconic location in a single shot. I guess the moral of the story is even if you’re tired and hungry, get out and shoot and who knows what kind of shot you might get :)
Two Galaxies over Yosemite
I recently visited Yosemite National Park for 1.5 days around Labor Day and although astrophotography wasn’t originally high on my list of things to-do, the conditions were just too good to pass up that day. This was prime summer Milky Way season and it was to be visible at a reasonable time just a few hours after sunset. Being in Yosemite we were also away from most city light pollution, the waxing crescent moon would be setting not too long after sunset to avoid too much additional light yet be just bright enough to help illuminate El Capitan and other parts of the valley, and the forecast was for perfectly cloudless skies.
As a novice to astrology, I knew I had captured a part of the Milky Way, but it wasn’t until after coming home and doing more research that I realized that bright dot with a swirl around it near the middle of the picture was probably not a planet, but actually the Andromeda Galaxy, the next closest major galaxy to the Milky Way at 2.5 million light years away. Unfortunately, the streaking line was likely not the International Space Station, as it would not have been passing over Yosemite at that time, so my best guess is a satellite or meteorite.
With cars passing through the valley and in the parking lot helping to illuminate the trees, it was quite amazing to capture all these different components plus two different galaxies over an iconic location in a single shot. I guess the moral of the story is even if you’re tired and hungry, get out and shoot and who knows what kind of shot you might get :)