This is a panoramic image of individual images taken against the background of the magical night sky. In this image, the arch of the Milky Way shines brightly over the Iranian Dasht-e Lut desert a few minutes before dusk. In the zodiacal light, you can see a faint path of cosmic dust or sunlight glinting from interplanetary dust. This light is visible near Mars and Jupiter, which shine together at the horizon, along the plane of the ecliptic.
The background sky has a smooth greenish tint from the glow of the air, which is light reflected from the earth’s atmosphere into the night sky. In the photo, you can also see the largest galaxy closest to Earth, which is called the Andromeda Galaxy. It is a faint oblong shape that is visible above the rocky peaks on the left, at the beginning of the Milky Way.
Modern Iran, which today is a restrictive fundamentalist state, was a center of astronomical research in medieval times.
The photo titled “Zodiacal Light with Mars and Jupiter in the Pristine Sky of Lut Desert in Iran” was taken by professional photographer and writer from Lisbon, Miguel Claro. He is the author of some of the most impressive images of the night sky. As a European Southern Observatory Photo Ambassador, a participant in the The World At Night project and the official astrophotographer of the Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve, he specializes in astronomical photographs of the night sky.
To see more of Miguel Claro’s work, visit his website or follow his stories on Instagram.
According to Space
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