Moon Corona with Mars and Eta Aquaridi

A photo composite of multiple exposures. From the photographer: “Among the Sicilian soul places searched and photographed at night, one cannot miss the town of Sperlinga, which I show you here in this evocative image.

Built on a rocky hill, the town is located between the Madonie and Nebrodi Mountains. Historical sources mention Sperlinga as early as 1082, and it is known that the town underwent a strong colonization by people from northern Italy who handed down a particular dialect called Gallo-Italic of Sicily that is still spoken today. The town was structured under the castle built by pandering to the rocky outcrop on which the town is built. Also characteristic of Sperlinga are some houses that have been carved directly into the rock of the spur. Of Sperlinga, the siege of the castle during the revolution of the Sicilian vespers is well known. “When the rebellion against Angevin domination spread through all the towns of Sicily, a garrison of Frenchmen must have been in the castle of Sperlinga; when the news of the war reached there too, the garrison had three possibilities to escape the popular wrath: escape, surrender or barricade themselves inside.”

The French withstood the siege for about a year between 1282 and 1283 before surrendering. The image shows the town with its castle aligned with the Enta whose summit can be glimpsed. It is the hours before dawn. The sky is blue, but the flashes of the rising sun illuminate the cloudy veils stretching over the countryside with red.  A particular alignment of stars makes for a unique suggestion: the sickle moon in ashen light surrounded by a halo, the planet Mars, and a beautiful shooting star belonging to the Eta Aquarids swarm.”