Ursa Major and the Old Station

From the photographer: “The nights between January and February offer the opportunity to photograph Ursa Major upright from the first hours after sunset.

In this image, the famous asterism recalls the myth of the birth of Zeus, saved by his mother Rhea before Cronus swallowed him for fear of being dethroned by one of his sons. Zeus was hidden in a cave in Crete, where he was raised by the nymphs Helix and Cinosura. It is said that, out of gratitude, the god placed his nymphs in the sky: Helix as Ursa Major and Cinosura as Ursa Minor.

Here, the constellation stretches above one of the many disused railway stations that can be found in the Sicilian countryside. These abandoned places evoke a time when the small villages of rural Sicily were connected by local trains, the railways of which have now been almost completely transformed into modern roads.”

Technical details:
Canon 6d, Sigma 50mm, f/1.4, iso 3200, 8 sec x 17, Lee Soft Focus filter