Thousand Stars & A Million People

A long-exposure photo sequence has captured the night sky over the city of Cologne (Koln) and the Rhine river. About one million people live in the city and while the light pollution, like most other major cities, washes away stars, there are still a large number of them captured in the picture thanks to digital capabilities and startrail technique. In the middle top the north celestial pole is marked by the north star, Polaris. Over the famous Hohenzollern Bridge plane tracks are visible. On the left behind the historic old town (Altstadt) is the Cologne Cathedral, a World Heritage Site, heavily illuminated. This Gothic masterpiece is built between 13th and 19th centuries. © Bernd Proschold