It’s that time of year again! The nights are dark enough that when a good solar wind is blowing, the Northern Lights are visible in the sky over Denali National Park and Preserve. Here is what the aurora borealis looked like at Monday night over the Toklat River and through the trees. Photos by Daniel A. Leifheit, National Park Service.
A stunning shot of the Perseid meteor shower from the summit of Haleakala National Park in Hawaii. Already impressive in the light of day, the summit takes on a new dimension at night when the darkness reveals the brilliant night sky and spectacular views of the Milky Way. Photo courtesy of Chris Archer.
Stargazing is amazing at Badlands National Park in South Dakota. With very little light pollution, the park is home to some of the best dark skies in the country. Photo by Kevin Palmer (www.sharetheexperience.org).
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is located on the Colorado Plateau in the pristine and spectacular canyonlands of Utah. A beautiful drive along Cottonwood Creek Drive takes you to Grosvenors Arch – a rare double natural arch that is one of the most unusual features of the Grand Staircase-Escalante. Pictured here is the Milky Way glittering in the sky as seen from the front side of Grosvenors Arch. Photo courtesy of David Lane.
A trip to Yellowstone National Park isn’t complete without seeing Midway Geyser Basin. A boardwalk leads you to the colorful Grand Prismatic Spring. At 370 feet in diameter and over 121 feet deep, Grand Prismatic is the park’s largest hot spring. This jaw-dropping multi-image panorama shows Grand Prismatic Spring at night with the Milky Way sparkling above it and the stars reflected in the water below. Image courtesy of David Lane.
Otherworldly, surreal and unreal are all words that have been used to describe this image, but people also want to know if it’s real. The answer: Yes, but you have to know a little about astrophotography to understand the image. First, the image is 16 individual images stitched together (not stacked like HDR) to create a large panorama of the night sky. The stitching creates the curve in the Milky Way in order to keep the ground straight (think of it like taking an orange peel and laying it out flat, the sphere gets distorted). The Milky Way is colorful because camera light sensors can pick up more light than the human eye (most people just see the stars in black and white) and using an exposure of 15 seconds for each image helps illuminate the sky and foreground more. This photo also shows air glow radiating out of the horizon and the aurora in the left corner.
If you were to visit Midway Geyser Basin on a clear night, you would see the stars in the sky in black and white, plus the airglow and aurora, and the foreground would be dark.
The Milky Way over Crater Lake National Park is just mesmerizing. Tiffany Nguyen took this amazing photo a few weeks ago while visiting the park. Of the experience, she says, “I must’ve gotten over a dozen mosquito bites and hardly any sleep, but it’s nights like this I’ll never forget.” Photo courtesy of Tiffany Nguyen.
One of the most spectacular Milky Way photos we’ve ever seen! In this picture, the Milky Way appears over the summit of Mount Rainier in Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park. The streaks of light on the Mount Rainier: those are climbers getting an alpine start and heading towards the summit. Photo by Stephen Byrne (www.sharetheexperience.org).
When was the last time you looked at the night sky after a day of hiking? This gorgeous timelapse video shows the Milky Way over the Needles District in Canyonlands National Park (Utah). Video courtesy of Emily Ogden, media intern at Canyonlands. 🌌
June #conservationlands15 Social Media Takeover: Top 15 Places to Stargaze on the #mypubliclandsroadtrip in BLM California
1. Amargosa Wild and Scenic River
2. Cadiz Dunes Wilderness
3. California Coastal National Monument
4. Carrizo Plain National Monument
5. Fort Ord National Monument
6. Kingston Range Wilderness
7. Little Black Sands Beach in King Range National Conservation Area
8. Lost Coast Trail at King Range National Conservation Area
9. North Maricopa Wilderness
10. Piedras Blancas Light Station Outstanding Natural Area
11. Piper Mountains Wilderness
12. Point Arena-Stornetta in California Coastal National Monument
13. San Gorgonio Wilderness
14. Slinkard Wilderness
15. Whipple Mountains WildernessThanks for following the June #conservationlands15 features on My Public Lands Tumblr, and our takeover of americasgreatoutdoors Instagram account (https://instagram.com/usinterior/). Stay tuned all week as the #mypubliclandsroadtrip visits these top 15 California spots for stargazing and much more.
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