Ben_Coffman
Dust lanes II
Ah, the Alvord Desert, in southeastern Oregon. You may think you've seen dark skies, but I'm not sure there's anywhere in the continental United States that is darker than the Alvord. It was so dark that long exposures facing a hair east of due south (toward the Milky Way's galactic center at the time) managed to pick up the tiniest bit of light pollution. I'm still trying to figure out if that's from Winnemuca (population 7,000 and over 120 miles away) or the mecca of light pollution, Las Vegas (metro area population 2,000,000 and a whopping 600 miles away). The fact that I could see light pollution at all from either of these places, given their respective sizes and distances, is a testament to how incredibly dark the skies are in that desert.
Notes: There was a surprising amount of moisture in the air (I visited in May), which created the kind of gauzy, undefined look you see in the stars. The green stuff low on the horizon is, of course, airglow. In the sky you're looking at the galactic center of the Milky Way. In the sky on the right side is Rho Ophiuchi (Row O-fee-oochi), a star-forming region.
Photographic notes: Two exposures, one for the land and one for the sky, lovingly and carefully massaged in Lightroom 5 and PS 6.
More night photography, prints, and a "contact me" form for licensing at my website.
Dust lanes II
Ah, the Alvord Desert, in southeastern Oregon. You may think you've seen dark skies, but I'm not sure there's anywhere in the continental United States that is darker than the Alvord. It was so dark that long exposures facing a hair east of due south (toward the Milky Way's galactic center at the time) managed to pick up the tiniest bit of light pollution. I'm still trying to figure out if that's from Winnemuca (population 7,000 and over 120 miles away) or the mecca of light pollution, Las Vegas (metro area population 2,000,000 and a whopping 600 miles away). The fact that I could see light pollution at all from either of these places, given their respective sizes and distances, is a testament to how incredibly dark the skies are in that desert.
Notes: There was a surprising amount of moisture in the air (I visited in May), which created the kind of gauzy, undefined look you see in the stars. The green stuff low on the horizon is, of course, airglow. In the sky you're looking at the galactic center of the Milky Way. In the sky on the right side is Rho Ophiuchi (Row O-fee-oochi), a star-forming region.
Photographic notes: Two exposures, one for the land and one for the sky, lovingly and carefully massaged in Lightroom 5 and PS 6.
More night photography, prints, and a "contact me" form for licensing at my website.