Under the Milky Way
Very fresh air in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, a magical place far away from everything... which is good for night shots, and rockets.
I just used a tripod and long exposure with a 16mm lens, wide open at f2.8 and ISO800.
Comments from an astronomer:
The dark sky applet shows that Black Rock Desert is in one of the least light-polluted parts of the United States.
It's eerie to think that the 3-million solar mass black hole lurking in the center of the galaxy is just to the right of the bright star cloud in this photo near the boundary between Sagittarius and Scorpius.
The photo also shows Jupiter within a few degrees of Antares -- a nice illustration of the fact that Jupiter appears slightly brighter than the brightest stars.
Newton used this similarity in apparent brightness to get the first ball park estimate of the distance to the stars. He assumed that the stars are similar in brightness to the sun, and assumed that Jupiter (whose distance he knew) is a perfect reflector of sunlight...
21 responses
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Gary Fudge gave props (27 Mar 2008):
Impressive work
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Rachel Mckinnie gave props (22 Apr 2008):
That's what I'm talking about!!! How long was the exposure?
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Nick Druzyakin said (23 Apr 2008):
Great photo!
What's the camera, if not a secret? :) -
Chris Gans gave props (23 Apr 2008):
Simply beautiful
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Kyle Wilkins gave props (23 Apr 2008):
wow man, this is crazy
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Steve Jurvetson said (23 Apr 2008):
Thanks y'all !
Rachel: 54 second exposure
Nick: Canon 5D
More details and comments here;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/898622334/
(and a cool astronomer from Lick Observatory annotates some of the key celestial features) -
Steve Jurvetson added a link (23 Apr 2008):
Oops, here's the clickable version of the link I just posted... (www.flickr.com)
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Andrew Lorimer gave props (23 Apr 2008):
Absolutely Beautiful Capture !!!
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marilu gave props (24 Apr 2008):
Fantastic shot!
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adniloj gave props (28 Apr 2008):
wow; what a stunning beautiful world we live in!
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Logan Marshall-Green said (14 May 2008):
Ummmmmm.... i am so small.
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Kathleen Bjoran said (25 May 2008):
A big CONGRATS on this beautiful and inspirational shot appearing in JPG Magazine. Very well deserved!
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Joseph Calvo gave props (6 Jun 2008):
Stunning photograph
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Gustavo Boyzo gave props (20 Jun 2008):
Wow!!! is all I have to say.
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Patrick Lydon gave props (8 Jul 2008):
I just love staring at photographs such as this... lovely!
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alex ringer said (29 Jul 2008):
That's a WINNER shot, Steve, and a rare one for town people like most of us.
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Brian Grunst gave props (26 Aug 2008):
Wow is the word!
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Sam Hawkings gave props (20 Nov 2008):
Fair play...awesome shot!!
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Josephine Sicad gave props (14 Jan 2009):
I am in awe seeing this.. *hats off*
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Shannon Tunks gave props (22 Jan 2009):
Incredibly wow!!
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Gloria Childers gave props (12 Feb 2009):
We are not alone........Beautiful.
