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 Later in the evening on a cool winter
            night in early July in the Outback of Australia, the most brilliant
            part of the Milkyway galaxy rises in the east, in which for us
            northern hemisphere observers appears to be a rather peculiar
            orientation. This single 10 minute frame with the barn door mount
            reveals a bit more than the eye saw at that time, but it was
            so dark, the horizon was never visible to our naked eyes. You
            knew the sky had met the ground only by the absence of stars,
            then it was utter blackness.

            
Just above the center in
            this image is M8 the Lagoon nebula appearing as a pink patch
            of nebulosity. The Scutum star clouds are to its lower left,
            and you can see the bowl of the Pipe nebula at the top of the
            frame.

            
Myself, Dawn, and our good
            friend Paul Tierney spent over a week deep in the Outback stargazing,
            imaging, photographing and fossil collecting. It was our best
            time ever visiting Paul, with most days clear and dry and the
            nights dark, transparent and steady for all the clear evenings.

Instrument:  Canon 17 - 40mm L @ 17mm
Platform:  Robotic Barn Door 
Camera:  Canon 10D @ ISO800
Exposure:  10m
Filters:  UV
Location:  Near Winton, Queensland, Australia
Elevation:  700 ft.
Sky:  Seeing  9/10, Transparency 10/10
Outside Temperature:  50F
Processing Tools:  Photoshop CS, Maxim DL, PixInsight, Pixmantec RAW
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