A Volcano of Fire under a Milky Way of Stars
Sometimes it's hard to decide which is more impressive -- the land or the sky.
On the land of the
featured image, for example, the Volcano of Fire
(Volcán de Fuego) is seen erupting topped by red-hot,
wind-blown ash
and with streams of glowing lava running down its side.
Lights from neighboring towns are seen through a thin haze below.
In the sky, though, the central plane of our
Milky Way Galaxy
runs diagonally from the upper left, with a fleeting
meteor just below, and the
trail of a satellite to the upper right.
The planet
Jupiter also appears toward the upper left,
with the bright star
Antares just to its right.
Much of the land and the sky were
captured together in a single, well-timed,
25-second exposure taken in mid-April from the side of
Fuego's sister
volcano Acatenango in
Guatemala.
The image of the meteor, though, was captured in a similar frame
taken about 30 minutes earlier -- when the volanic eruption was not as photogenic -- and added later digitally