Firefly Milky Way over Russia
Image Credit & Copyright:
Anton Komlev
It started with a pine tree.
The idea was to photograph a statuesque
pine
in front of the central band of our
Milky Way Galaxy.
And the plan, carried out two months ago, was successful --
they both appear prominently.
But the resulting 3-frame panorama captured much more.
Colorful stars,
for example, dot the distant background, with bright
Altair visible on the upper left.
The planet Saturn, a bit closer, was captured just over the horizon on the far left.
Just beyond the
Earth's atmosphere, seen in the upper right, an
Earth-orbiting satellite
was caught leaving a streak during the 25-second exposure.
The Earth's atmosphere itself was
surprisingly visible -- as
green airglow
across the image top.
Finally, just by chance, there was a
firefly.
Do you see it?
Near the image bottom,
the firefly blinked in yellow several times as it
fluttered before the rolling hills above
Milogradovka River in
Primorsky Krai,
Russia.