Milky Way over Eureka Dunes - a photo on Flickriver

For years, since Kurt Lawson pointed out that Sandy Peak has fantastic views, I've wanted to photograph the Milky Way over the Eureka Dunes from there. As a bonus, Mt. Whitney is visible above the dunes. I finally was successful.

Sandy Peak can be reached by a 5-mile each-way off-trail hike with 3000 ft of gain. I've hiked it three times now. The first time was in December 2021; it was cold but there was a fantastic sunset and I had amazing views in the morning. I returned in June 2022 and attempted to photograph the Milky Way over the dunes, but clouds blew in during the night.

This time, the conditions were close to ideal. It was very hot (85 F) at the trailhead, so I carried 7 liters of water for the overnight trip. The skies were clear throughout the trip, and I caught the Milky Way just as blue hour started. The dunes were illuminated by a rising 31% moon. The Milky Way was pretty much gone an hour before sunrise, which was earlier than I expected. If I had photographed this later in the year, the galaxy would have progressed further over the dunes, but the hike would have been unbearably hot.

The Milky Way has not been moved or enlarged relative to the dunes. This is how they appeared relative to each other. I averaged a few images to reduce noise in the dunes, but that's it.

Taken in: United States / California / Crater (show map)

Taken on: June 1, 2024

Tags:

sandy

peak

national park

eureka

sand

dune

dunes

astronomy

milky way

galaxy

blue hour

twilight « less

Sets appears in: • Favorite Night Photos

Groups appears in: • California • U.S. National Parks more » • Mountains • The Southwest United States • Landscape Exploration • Deserted Landscapes • Landscape Astrophotography • Photo Infos • Into the Night Photography • in explore • Brain Vision. Art. • ☆The Power of Now / Die Kraft der Gegenwart ☆ • WONDERS OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN GENERAL.MARAVILLAS DE LA FOTOGRAFIA EN « less

Camera: Sony ILCE-7RM3A, f/2.0, 8 sec, 50mm, ISO 5000 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Sony ILCE-7RM3A
Lens:	Voigtlander APO-LANTHAR 50mm F2 Aspherical
Aperture:	f/2.0
Exposure Time:	8
Focal Length:	50mm
ISO:	5000
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Saturation:	High
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 25.9 (Windows)
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