Warm Winter Night

A photo composite of multiple exposures. From the photographer: “I can’t remember when was the last time that in a deep winter time in January one could feel so comfortable during night observation, especially in the altitudes around 900m in Slovakia. Just 2 days before taking this photo, all the hills around were covered by snow. The temperatures got pretty high one week ago. At least the sky doesn’t change. Well, is it really so? From the photo one can notice last summer constellations like Cygnus or Lyra setting down, followed by the autumn sky represented by Pegasus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda with its equally named galaxy or Perseus, then the dominating constellations of the winter sky (Taurus, Orion, Gemini, Auriga, Canis Mayor, etc.). That’s how the sky naturally “changes” during the night or over the year. There’s also a faint red airglow above horizon. Unfortunately the bright lights of even relatively small towns, villages or seasonal ski centers around the place are getting stronger each year and affect the sky in the most negative way. The strongest light comes from the Spišská Nová Ves city, next to the Tatra Mountains on the right.”