The Castle of Assassins

The Milky Way extends across the sky above mountain fortress of Alamut in this all-sky view from Iran. Located in the central Alborz Mountains, Alamut Castle (2160 m) was built into the rock in the 9th century. The name means Eagle’s Nest. Home of the legendary Assassins featured in the adventure movie Prince of Persia, Alamut was also historically a center for libraries and education. For a time, it was the residence of important 13th century Persian scholar and astronomer Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (or simply known as Tusi). The light dome at the lower right is from the capital Tehran, over 100 kilometers away to the southwest. The light on the upper right is from Qazvin, the closest major city to Almaut.