A Black Sand Beach

From the photographer: “Less than an hour from New Zealand’s largest city lies a rugged stretch of volcanic coastline. These black sand beaches face west, and during the month of May, the outer reaches of our Milky Way appear to fall into the sea.

Here, you can see the Carina Nebula high in the sky, with the faint Milky Way beneath it. This region is full of bright stars and clusters—a gem of the southern sky.”

Technical details:
Three-shot vertical panorama at 50mm.