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Fire in the Sky

A Lyrid and some space junk are crossing tracks high in the sky, while the spring Milky Way is arching over a foggy pond in Switzerland.

 

This was my third night out with Benjamin Barakat. I started the drive to this pond in the middle of a downpour, as the weather report predicted that it would by clear by 11 p.m. The forecast was spot on, but soon after we arrived, fog started to form. The fog was not completely solid, but in combination with the light pollution from nearby towns, it almost drowned the Milky Way. Despite rather low hopes, I am quite happy with image I was able to capture.

 

While photographing the middle section, two bright spots appeared high in the sky. They moved on parallel tracks, quickly reached extreme brightness and then slowly faded, until we lost sight of them after about a minute. During this eerie sighting, a much faster Lyrid crossed the tracks of what most probably was space junk dying a firey death while plunging back into our atmosphere.

 

Prints available: ralf-rohner.pixels.com

 

EXIF

Canon EOS 6D, astro modified

Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 @ 15mm

iOptron SkyTracker Pro

Sky:

5 panels, each a stack of 6 x 45s @ ISO1600, tracked

Foreground and reflection:

5 panels, each a stack of 6 x 45s @ ISO1600, untracked

The reflection was stacked with Sequator.

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Uploaded on April 30, 2020
Taken on April 27, 2020