Milky Way Over Santa Monica Mountains

From the photographer: “Even though the Santa Monica Mountains encircle the Los Angeles area in Southern California, the immediate proximity of the Pacific Ocean to the south enables the Milky Way and other night sky treasures to be easily seen. In 2012, we celebrated the arrival of the best viewing of the year of the Milky Way’s core region with the First Annual Summer Sky Festival, hosted by the United States National Park Service (NPS). In 2013, the event grew to attract over 800 attendees, with over a dozen telescopes and support from local astronomers and astronomy groups.”