The Milky Way from the Atacama Desert

Staying in San Pedro de Atacama, our guides drove us out into the desert for 40 minutes to get to our very dark observing site. As we walked away from the minibus, there were gasps from even the seasoned astronomers.

As our eyes adapted to the darkness, the milky way became so bright it looked like fluffy cotton balls in the sky. Its brightness, and the number of stars in general, made it almost impossible to pick out the constellations.

The image goes only some way towards doing justice to this fantastic vista.

Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera with 24-70 Nikkor ED lens at 26mm. Single 95-second exposure at f/2.8 and ISO 1600.

To help pick out some of the objects visible in the image, I have added labels in this copy.