Dec 29th, 2016: I See Stars

[xoxoxoBruce]

Damn, they must have taken some pictures from telescopes, or the Space Station, and photoshopped some mountains on them.


.......NOPE!

Photographer Sandro Casutt lives in a remote Swiss village with unbelievable views of the Andromeda Galaxy. The village of Vals,
population 990, is a prime location for viewing the closest major galaxy to the Milky Way. Thus, Casutt, together with his brother
Markus, started Cosmic Art Photography two years ago as an outlet for their love of the universe.

Owner of a tattoo parlor by day, Casutt spends his evenings hunting for the perfect sky. The resulting photographs, which are
shot during different seasons, give incredible views of the Andromeda in all its glory. The galaxy, the largest of a cluster of 54
galaxies known as the Local Group, is 220,000 light years across and is expected to collide with the Milky Way in 4.5 billion years.
And while the Andromeda is the closest to us, we’re still talking about 2.5 million light years away from Earth.

I remember camping along the Colorado River, at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, in August when the Milky way was overhead.
With an absence of light pollution the view was amazing, greater than I'd see anywhere else. I suppose I could have seen a lot of
stars in the wilds of Alaska but there was too much light pollution from the Aurora Borealis.

A lot more pictures at the link