Wall of Stars

Close-up images of the Milky Way core always remind me of Olbers' paradox. Olbers' paradox, named after the German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers (1758–1840), is the argument that the darkness of the night sky conflicts with the assumption of an infinite and eternal static universe.

 

If the universe was static, homogeneous at a large scale, and populated by an infinite number of stars, any line of sight from Earth should end at the surface of a star and hence the night sky would be completely illuminated and very bright.

 

This contradicts the observed darkness and non-uniformity of the night. The darkness of the night sky is, therefore, evidence for a dynamic universe, as postulated by the Big Bang model.

 

In a photograph of the galactic core, however, the stars are so densely packed that there indeed is nothing but stars if the line of sight isn't blocked by interstellar dust.

 

For me, a foreground with a solid wall of stars as a backdrop is one of the most stunning scenes in landscape astrophotography. I hope you like it as much as I do.

 

EXIF

Canon EOS 6D

Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM ll @ 88mm

iOptron SkyTracker Pro

Sky:

Stack of 6x 60s @ ISO3200

Foreground:

Stack of 3 x 60s @ ISO3200

Done