Milky Way in Northern Spring
A
postcard from planet Earth, this springtime night skyscape
looks over Alandan lake in the Alborz mountains.
Taken
after local midnight
on April 17, the central Milky Way
is rising over the region's southeast horizon.
Its luminous track of stars and nebulae
along the plane of our galaxy are reflected in
the mirror-like lake.
The brightest celestial beacon mingled with the diffuse galactic
starlight is Jupiter.
Slightly dimmer, Saturn is below and left just above the mountains.
As spring brought leaves to the trees and
the galactic center to the northern night
the photographer found it also
gave frogs their voices,
heard like a melody across the calm water.