A Dark Sky Over Death Valley
Credit:
Dan Duriscoe,
U.S. National Park Service
This eerie glow over Death Valley is in danger.
Scrolling right will show a spectacular view from one of the
darkest places left in the continental
USA:
Death Valley,
California.
The above 360-degree full-sky panorama is a composite of 30 images taken two years ago in
Racetrack Playa.
The image has been digitally processed and increasingly stretched at high altitudes to make it rectangular.
In the foreground on the image right is an
unusually placed rock
that was pushed by high winds onto
Racetrack Playa
after a slick rain.
In the background is a
majestic night sky,
featuring thousands of stars and many constellations.
The arch across the middle is the central
band of our
Milky Way Galaxy.
Light pollution
is threatening dark skies like this all
across the US and the world, and therefore the
International Dark-Sky Association and the
US National Parks Service are
suggesting methods that can
protect
them.