Before twilight and shortly after the moon set in Yellowstone National Park, astrophotographer A. Garrett Evans found the perfect moment to capture this stunning image.
Evans took the image from near the edge of the Grand Prismatic Spring in the Midway Geyser Basin in Yellowstone on June 27 and recently shared it with Space.com. (You can see more of Evans’ amazing night sky photos here .)
“I had less then an hour to complete the shots I wanted from this location after the moon set and before twilight started to brighten the scene,” Evans wrote in an email to Space.com. [See More Stunning Photos of the Milky Way ]
Made up of dust, gas and roughly 400 billion stars, the Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy stretching between 100,000 to 120,000 light-years in diameter. It is visible as a dazzling band of light in the night sky.
The steam from the spring can be seen center right in the frame. The lines in the foreground created by the silica and the colors created by the microbial mats that grow around the edge of the spring.
“All the sights in the park are amazing some maybe even more so at night!” Evans added.
Milky Way Quiz: Test Your Galaxy Smarts
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Milky Way Quiz: Test Your Galaxy Smarts
Dust off your spiral arms and fatten up your bulge — it’s time to tap into your inner galaxy to test your smarts about the Milky Way. Our home in space is a strange and wondrous place that scientists are still trying to figure out. See what you know!
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This photo is a single shot taken with a Canon 6D, using a Nikon 14024 mm lens with a Novoflex adapter. Camera settings were ISO 6400, f/2.8, 30 seconds.
To see more amazing night sky photos submitted by our readers, visit our astrophotography archive .
Editor’s note: If you have an amazing night sky photo you’d like to share with Space.com and its news partners for a possible story or gallery, send images and comments in to managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.
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