Galactic Umbrella Above Damavand

The Milky Wayis  rising above Mount Damavand, a national symbols of Iran that reaches about 5600 meters high, the tallest peak in Middle East and the highest live volcano in Asia. This nightscape photo captured without moon presence. But still the sky background appears brightened. The answer is simple and distasteful: Light Pollution, even in such a remote place. I traveled to Lar National Park, 3000 meters high in Damavand slopes to capture this view. After dusk the opposite horizon, over the west was so bright that I thought the horizon wasn’t completely dark due to dusk but then soon realized its all light pollution from Tehran, 70 kilometers away. We could walk without using headlamp due to the city glow. It was a big change from my previous trips to this location. Changing light pollution color dome from yellow to white which unfortunately caused by changing sodium vapor lamps to white-blue LEDs is really a critical aspect of current light pollution issue in the world. These lights scatter much more in the atmosphere and creates more artificial skyglow.