Sky Party

The evening twilight fades in to darkness and stars set in the western horizon. The brightest trails in this 3-hour single exposure made on a film is the crescent Moon and planet Venus. Below the moon is the short trail of Mercury which appeared briefly in the night. Below the celestial trails are red lights of amateur astronomers on the roof historic caravansary in the heart of desert during the annual Messier Marathon in Iran. This one-night observing competition is to view 110 objects (galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters) in the catalog made by 18th century French astronomer Charles Messier. The best date to hold the marathon is near the March equinox.