Winter is coming
30-07-22
The view from Tymfi's Mountain Hut, at the first hours of the 30th of July, 2022. Looking northeast, we see the outer regions of our galaxy rising high above the mountain peaks. From Cassiopeia to Auriga, the band of the Milky Way hides many star clusters and hydrogen clouds. These constellations are best observed throughout the winter months for the northern hemisphere. Their gradual appearance in the late summer sky, rising night by night higher from the horizon, marks the start of the transition from summer to autumn for the northern hemisphere.
To the top right, at the constellation of Andromeda, we can see a faint smudge of light that does not come from inside our galaxy. This is the Andromeda galaxy (M31), the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way. At 2,5 million light years away, it is the most distant object that we can see with the unaided human eye, under dark skies. Andromeda is approaching the Milky Way at about 110 km/s, and is expected to collide directly with us at about 4 billion years from now.
At the foreground, we see the alpine landscape of the north-eastern peaks of Tymfi. The highest in frame is Ploskos, reaching 2377m. On the U-shaped plateau, between the two peaks, lies the Dragonlake of Tymfi, at an altitude of 2050m. The "small" peak visible behind the plateau is Smolikas, the second highest mountain of Greece, reaching 2637m. Some intense airglow is visible, a faint emission of light by the gases of the atmosphere, and close to the horizon we see the light pollution from the cities of Kastoria and Kozani.
sky
ISO-800, f/2.2, 240sec 3 shots stacked
ground
ISO-1600, f/2.2, 240sec 6 shots stacked ( 4 + 2 focus stack )
--Software--
DSS
Starnet++v2
Photoshop 2022
--Equipment--
Canon EOS R
Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art
Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art
Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer
