A True Image from False Kiva

As seen on Astronomy Picture of the Day the magnificent beauty of the night sky as photographed from the giant window of False Kiva in Canyonlands National Park in eastern Utah, USA. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into countless canyons, mesas and buttes by the Colorado River and its tributaries. As described by the photographer “The America Southwest is home to thousands of caves that were once home for millenniums of various Indian cliff dwellers. Few are as hauntingly beautiful as False Kiva, given its name for the round stone circle structure. The hidden cave sits half way down a mesa cliff and has a stunning “room with a view” of rock formations in Canyonlands. One can only imagine the thousands of times individuals through the ages saw the same view of Jupiter and the Milky Way parade across the heavens from their very own back yard… False Kiva is by far the most magical place I have ever been to and everyone that has been there says it is a hauntingly beautiful place lost in a time. Since the cave is so large, even with my 24mm lens I was not able to get the whole cave in view without doing a panoramic image with 4 shots. During the exposures the crescent Moon lit up the canyons and I artificially lit the inside of the cave. If the photo looks unreal, believe me that place looks like the most unreal scene time wrapped place I have ever been to. I have gotten unbelievably spooked at times being in there alone at night while I was just waiting for a mountain lion to return to its den!”