Contains:  Star trails
Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope star-trails, Nik Szymanek

Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope star-trails

Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope star-trails, Nik Szymanek

Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope star-trails

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Description

This is one of my favourite pictures taken during a trip the the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, Canary Islands in 2002.
As the sky darkened, a slender crescent Moon (setting in the west) illuminated this magical scene. The main telescope is the 1-metre Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope and further down at lower right is the 2.5-metre Isaac Newton Telescope. Both domes had been recently repainted and reflected the feeble moonlight very well.
The bright stars at centre left are part of the 'Plough' asterism. The blue sky is caused by Rayleigh scattering of the weakened sunlight reflecting from the Moon and wasn't visible to the naked eye.
Nikon FM2 SLR with Nikon 28mm lens on static tripod. 
EliteChrome 200 ISO film.
Exposure approximately 10-15 minutes.

Nik Szymanek

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Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope star-trails, Nik Szymanek