Salda Blues

Lake Salda in southwest Turkey is known for its super clear waters and blue color that I like to call as “Salda Blue”, which nicely shows even in the night-time images. Salda is not a large lake, roughly 7×9 km and covering 44 km2, yet it is nearly 200 meters deep. Thanks to this depth and its very clear water, Salda is probably the bluest lake in Turkey and its color can give a run for any beach by the Mediterranean or tropics. Here, I tried to photograph the Milky Way stretching all over the lake, as I had done in my first visit exactly 10 years earlier. The winter Milky Way begins from Vela, Puppis region, goes through Canis Major, Canis Minor, Monoceros, Orion, Taurus, Gemini, Auriga, Perseus and all the way into Cassiopeia and Cepheus; all shining over the blue waters of Lake Salda. The bright asterism of Winter Hexagon is also shining and lights of at least three hexagon stars, Sirius, Rigel and Aldebaran are seen reflected from the lake.