Star Trail and Light Pollution

From the photographer: “In January of this year, I created this star trail. From the moment the image was developed, it was clear that the real protagonists were neither Venus, Saturn, nor the Moon.

The sky was marked by a multitude of artificial trails: aeroplanes with curved trajectories, generated by their alignment with the runway at Catania airport, and satellites which, although only visible for a few moments, left a grid of visible marks on the right of the image. The plain of Catania, on the other hand, was invaded by the uncontrolled glare of artificial lights, as was the area around the Sapienza Refuge. Once barely perceptible, today this area is so bright that it can even be distinguished from the areas surrounding the volcano.

The contrast is stark: the beauty of the starry sky is inevitably contaminated by human activity. An effective law against light pollution, regulating the lighting of cities and their hinterlands, seems more necessary today than ever.”

Technical details:
Canon 6d, Sigma 24-35mm, f/2.8, iso 1000, 10 sec x 347