Light Trails

A Notable Photo of the 2014 International Earth & Sky Photo Contest

From the photographer: “Kansas is in the heart of the Central Flyway for bird migration, but is also known as flyover country. This photo shows how much air/space traffic there was in 33 minutes over the northern edge of Cheyenne Bottoms WA, a Wetlands of International Importance. The horizontal and diagonal lines are planes. I think many of the vertical streaks are satellites. The central vertical streak exhibits an iridium flare created by a passing satellite. Polaris sits 2/3 of the way up from the bottom. A passing car provided the light for the windmill and foreground. Only a few photos from the sequence possessed no light trails, demonstrating how hard it can be to capture the beauty of the night sky without interference from man made objects.”