The first evening spent in Namibia, in Sossusvley, we realized that we were in a place with a very dark sky, probably darker than in the Kalahari desert where the Tivoli Farm is located. In reality they are both skies in which light pollution is substantially absent, but from the Tivoli Farm you can see a slight brightness just a few degrees above the horizon that comes from the capital Windhoek. We therefore decided to travel a few kilometers in the middle of nowhere to observe with the binoculars, and, together with Arturo Galvan with the Star Adventurer of our friend Andrea Vanoni, to also take some pictures. I show the most significant areas of the southern sky, the Magellanic clouds (which could be seen like this but obviously wothout colors), the Milky Way with the Carina Nebula, the Coal Sack Nebula and the Southern Cross. A wonderful view. The light that can be seen between the Magellanic clouds, coming from behind the hill, was the only source of light pollution, our Hotel, which were located in the middle of nowhere in the desert. A feature of that sky was that it did not appear black, even far from the Milky Way, in fact we have never recorded SQM values ​​below 21.8, but at the same time we could perceive very faint nebular objects with the naked eye. We therefore deduced that it was the natural brightness of the sky. Taking some images we noticed the exceptional amount of airglow that gives the yellow-green color to the sky, a color that is much less intense than an aurora so it was not perceptible to the naked eye, but it is very evident in the photo. In the B revision stars are removed to show the appearance of that incredible airglow. The majority of you are used to dark skies but in Italy, which is one of the most light polluted countries in the world, it is something nobody can admire, so, sorry for my enthusiasm!
Nikon D600 modified
20 mm f2 ISO 1000
Star Adventurer
30 sec. x 1 landscape
30 sec. x 10 sky