Spirals [Explored]

I captured this dead tree with its spiral trunk last spring in California's Sierra Nevada. The tree certainly has weathered many seasons before finally succumbing to the harsh conditions in this mountainous area and the stunning form of its trunk is a reminder to its former beauty.

 

Of course, there is another spiral in this image - a less obvious and very obvious one at the same time: The starry band of the Milky Way in the sky, our spirally home galaxy seen from our vantage point within one of its spiral arms.

 

The stars of the Milky Way sent out their light long before the dead tree was born and will continue to shine until they die themselves, leaving nothing but stardust behind, the building blocks of which both the dead tree and the photographer shooting and contemplating the scene was formed.

 

The universe is a stunning place for sure!

 

EXIF

Canon EOS-R, astro-modified by Richard Galli from EOS 4Astro

Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8 @ 15mm

IDAS NBZ filter

iOptron SkyTracker Pro

Sunwayfoto T2840CK tripod

 

Sky:

Vertical panorama of 2 panels, each a stack of 10x 90s @ ISO1600, unfiltered & 3x 180s @ ISO6400, filtered

 

Foreground:

Focus stacked panorama of 2 panels, each 3x 15s @ ISO100 during twilight.

Done