The Magic Arc
The Milky Way shines in the early morning sky above Árbol de Piedra (tree of stone) in Bolivia, a wonderfully eroded rock formation with a thin base (pics of this in full light to follow). The source of the subtle glow of light on the bottom of the left side of the photo is a mystery to me, as there are no towns nearby in Bolivia. The Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy a mere 200,000 light years away, appears as a small cloud of light not far above the horizon in the middle of the right half of the photo.
This was the darkest sky I have ever seen, fittingly in one of the most remote places I've ever been. It was rather cold as we were camped at 4560 m/ 15,000 ft. The water inside our vehicles nearly froze solid. After shooting the sky for about 45 minutes I finally felt the cold creep in despite the thrill of the brilliant sky. It was well worth the discomfort.
This is a blend of 6 vertical shots- the zenith of the MW is around 75 degrees above the horizon, so this is just a bit less than half of the sky. Keeping the horizon straight results in curving the MW across the sky, despite it appearing straight in the sky when viewed "live" from the ground.
The Magic Arc
The Milky Way shines in the early morning sky above Árbol de Piedra (tree of stone) in Bolivia, a wonderfully eroded rock formation with a thin base (pics of this in full light to follow). The source of the subtle glow of light on the bottom of the left side of the photo is a mystery to me, as there are no towns nearby in Bolivia. The Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy a mere 200,000 light years away, appears as a small cloud of light not far above the horizon in the middle of the right half of the photo.
This was the darkest sky I have ever seen, fittingly in one of the most remote places I've ever been. It was rather cold as we were camped at 4560 m/ 15,000 ft. The water inside our vehicles nearly froze solid. After shooting the sky for about 45 minutes I finally felt the cold creep in despite the thrill of the brilliant sky. It was well worth the discomfort.
This is a blend of 6 vertical shots- the zenith of the MW is around 75 degrees above the horizon, so this is just a bit less than half of the sky. Keeping the horizon straight results in curving the MW across the sky, despite it appearing straight in the sky when viewed "live" from the ground.