Spending time in the San Pedro de Atacama region this April brought me and my friends also to the middle of a hidden valley not far from the famous Valle de la Luna. Since the salty desert surroundings are just so large, there is still so much to discover. This is another example. I found a beautiful spot where the trough of an ancient river created such a photogenic valley similar to what we see on images from Mars. And another river–the one in the sky–perfectly followed it. Such an interesting perspective to see the Milky Way, our starry island in the Universe, following a seemingly dry and inhospitable part of our planet while knowing that life is most likely on both sides of this image. Not only on Earth but somewhere there in Space.
The River over the Desert
In the image, you can see the majestic central Milky Way to the Southern Cross region, ending with the Carina Nebula. High above the sky, the Gegenschein can be clearly visible as well thanks to Chilean Atacama Desert. Colors in the sky over the horizon belong to the airflow. Used Canon Ra, Sigma 50mm, f2.2, ISO 6400, 44x20s panorama from a tripod and Vixen Polarie U mount.
Ridge and Galaxy at Valle de la Luna
In the upper image, the central Milky Way and Gegenschein appear over the distant horizon of the Chilean Andes in the dark sky of the San Pedro de Atacama region, Chile. In the foreground, you can see the articulated and unique structure, looking like a large ridge, appearing in the southern part of the well-known Valle de la Luna natural park of this region. Used Canon Ra, ISO 6400, Sigma 50mm Art, f2.2, 62x20s panorama a tripod and Vixen Polarie U mount.
The Cosmic Lights
In the upper deep sky panorama, you can enjoy a lot. The “cosmic V”, rising over ALMA OSF base in the distance, comes from the bright and most beautiful part of the Milky Way–from rising Scorpius to upper right Southern Cross constellations. Between them, lots of emission nebulae can be seen across the plane of our Galaxy. Another line of the “cosmic V” belongs to the Zodiacal Light and the Gegenschein of the sunlight scattered on the interstellar dust in the Solar System plane. Green and orange colors in the sky are caused by the airglow in the high atmosphere. For such a deep view, you need excellent conditions with no light pollution which can be found in the Atacama Desert, Chile. Used Canon Ra, ISO 6400, Sigma 50mm Art, f2.2, 65x20s panorama from a tripod and Vixen Polarie U mount.
Hydrogen Paintings over Baltinache Lagoons
The universe consists of 90% hydrogen. And you can see it all around, even when you look at the night sky. Like in this image. At the bottom, water composed of hydrogen and oxygen covers the surface of the salt flats, forming the Baltinache Lagoons in the Atacama Desert in Chile. Hydrogen is contained in the atmosphere and reacts together with other elements to sunlight, creating a phenomenon known as airglow – low above the horizon. In the Milky Way, we can find it, for example, in the form of nebulae glowing with H-alpha emissions. Hydrogen is also contained in ice dust particles scattering solar radiation on the ecliptic, which we see as a faint band of zodiacal light at the top of the image. Last but not least, practically all the stars and galaxies that we see in the picture are made up partly of hydrogen, too. Captured on 1st May, 2022, and used Canon Ra, ISO 10000, Sigma 35mm Art, f2.0, 61x10s panorama from a tripod.
