Bushehr Nightscape

Jupiter (the brightest point), winter stars, and the Milky Way appear in the dark sky of the Persian Gulf shores, near Bushehr, southwestern Iran. Lights of seashore villages illuminates the clouds. The foreground is a natural arch in a sandstone outcrop feature known as Yardang, or Kalout in Persian; an elongated hill carved from bedrock by wind, dust and sand. Click on the second photo to see another image of this night.