The Milky Way over a Mountain Road

Looking toward the centre of our own galaxy, in the direction of Sagittarius, where the star clouds are densest and dark dust lanes split the band of the Milky Way in two. The orange glow along the horizon is airglow mixed with light pollution from distant towns, and the streaks along the road are the trails left by passing cars during the long exposure. Wide-field nightscapes like this one are a good reminder of how much sky is lost to artificial light: the same view is impossible within any sizeable city.