Midnight Gold

Atacama Desert has some of the most pristine night skies on the planet, being away from light pollution with dry and clear air and transparent sky thanks to high altitude. Here I was camping in the mountains near the town of San Pedro de Atacama facing the majestic Licancabur volcano (~ 6000 m) bordering Bolivia. Near midnight when the Milky Way was rising above the volcano the moon reached above the horizon, still masked by the volcano, but illuminating the clouds. Just before the starry sky was vanished by the rising moon I captured this single-exposure panorama. The core of the galaxy is in the center. At top the orange star Antares appears next to the red planet, Mars.

Fine Art Print