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It is no accident that many observatories are located on high mountains: the elevation lifts them above some of the occluding and distorting effects of the Earth's atmosphere. Being isolated on mountaintops also helps get telescopes away from the ever-increasing light pollution that is making really dark nights harder and harder to experience. Even where these photographs were made -- at the end of 25 miles of rough road in the remote White Mountains in far-eastern California -- it's almost impossible to avoid the 'horizon glow' produced by artificial lights in cities and towns. Nevertheless, on a moonless night, high altitude sites can provide spectacular views of the milky way, as seen in some of these images. The photo at upper left is a ~30 min time exposure looking north at Polaris (the North Star); White Mountain Peak is in the background. The other images are roughly 30 second exposures; long enough to collect sufficient light for an image, but short enough that the motion of the stars doesn't show. The picture below at left was taken shortly after moonrise and the bright moonlight gave an almost 'daytime' look to the rocks in the foreground. In the picture at upper right, the glow to the east (left) is from the moon (still slightly below the horizon), the distant glow in the south and west is from towns in the Owens Valley, and the bright light in the nearby mountains is the Barcroft Research Station. |
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