Categories: Uncategorized

Milky Way in California's Eastern Sierra in August

In the Northern Hemisphere the bright, complex center of our Milky Way Galaxy is visible above the horizon if you can find an area with dark skies (little light pollution from cities).  This was taken in early August, when the Milky Way is visible to the southwest.  To an observer as the night goes by the Milky Way moves right and tilts up on the left side, and at 10:45 pm it had a tilt perfect for vertical compositions.

The Milky Way in the Eastern Sierra in August

Google+: Reshared 62 times
Google+: View post on Google+

Jeff Sullivan

Jeff Sullivan leads landscape photography workshops in national parks and public lands throughout California and the American West.

View Comments

  • Under dark skies on a moonless night (before the moon has risen or after it has set), the Milky Way is visible to the eyes, just like this +Al Alvera.  It takes about 20-30 minutes for your eyes to gain maximum sensitivity for night vision, so I set my camera before leaving the car, and I try not to use lights after that.  In many places, where there are not lots of trees to block the light, the light of the Milky Way alone is bright enough that you can see the landscape well enough to walk around and set up your shots.  In that first 20 minutes before your eyes have fully adjusted you can still see the brightest stars and the general stripe of the Milky Way, so you notice where those stars are in your viewfinder to line up the composition.

  • Under starie sky's the opportunity of watching them and taking the pictures had to be great.

Recent Posts

The Perseid and Geminid Meteor Showers Will Be Particularly Good This Year (2026)

Perseid meteor shower in Death Valley National Park The Perseid and Geminid meteor showers are…

1 month ago

Will Spring Wildflowers in Death Valley Be Stronger Than 2016 in 2027?

Desert gold in Death Valley, spring 2016 Currently weather models are predicting a "super El…

1 month ago

Should I Use a Light Pollution Filter For Night Photography?

Well that depends... are you primarily practicing deep space astrophotography? That's what they're designed for:…

1 month ago

Faking Images vs. Taking Them: Post-processing Tradeoffs

Someone asked me on Facebook recently when I mentioned some adjustments on an image, "I…

1 month ago

Blogging in the Age of AI

I recently asked a workshop client how they found us, and he mentioned that he…

2 months ago

2026 Death Valley Super Bloom So Far

Based on our scouting in January, we returned to Death Valley in early March to…

6 months ago

This website uses cookies.