One thing I really like from Australia...

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... is that you can still see the stars

with the naked eye

I didn't have to use a telephoto to take this, in fact I used the wide angle at 10mm which also allowed me to add the trees as point of reference.

This is what your own eyes would see if you were standing in there.

The red color of the trees comes from the rear parking lights of the car (30 sec exposure) as we stopped on the road somewhere nearby Glenn Innes in New South Wales, in between Brisbane and Sydney.

I don't know if it is the milky way or some nebula, I am actually very bad at constellations.
And there is a reason for that:

Too many city lights in the Northern Hemisphere

So, except for some very bright ones many people like me haven't actually "seen the stars", ever.

The first time I noticed that was when I first traveled to Australia in 2006 and saw something similar at the desert of Ayer's Rock.
This time I was glad to notice that not only this can be seen in the desert but basically anywhere in this country.

Twitter @pacoalcantara

rogerale, pc_alicante, ccdoh1, and 169 other people added this photo to their favorites.

View 20 more comments

  1. Memo Vasquez 55 months ago | reply

    Es una vista extraordinariamente hermosa!
    Un saludo, amigo.

  2. pc_alicante 55 months ago | reply

    Hi, I'm an admin for a group called fotos perfectas, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

  3. Miss_Mandy07 54 months ago | reply

    Wow! What a fabulous shot.

  4. Christoph Zurbuchen 54 months ago | reply

    Excellent ! The only place i saw something close to it was in New Mexico,Beautiful picture !

  5. zorby 52 months ago | reply

    Excellent shot, and it is the Milky Way.

  6. Patrick Hoff [deleted] 52 months ago | reply

    Nice. There are few spots in Holland where it it as clear as this.
    You would have gotten an even better image if you would have turned the car lights off!

  7. JP...NYC 51 months ago | reply

    That's definitely the Milky Way; billions of stars and illuminated gas. Beautiful. Definitely can't see that from here in NYC.

  8. vacioysucio 51 months ago | reply

    Congratulations! you were so lucky! , I want so see that anywhere

  9. Pixter007 [deleted] 50 months ago | reply

  10. Dangerous Dave Astrophotography 50 months ago | reply

    Absolutely amazing that you took that with a 30 second exposure!

  11. jpstanley 50 months ago | reply

    Very nice. Interesting to see the Milky Way so high in the sky--that area is always near the horizon when seen from the northern hemisphere. I need to go to Australia sometime.

    And the entire northern hemisphere isn't too light-polluted to see the stars. (Yet.) Here's a photo I took in a tiny rural Utah town:

    Milky Way in deep twilight

  12. 28mediaphoto 49 months ago | reply

    Great shot of the glorious Southern Milky Way. It's absolutely breathtaking when you see it like that for the first time. From down under ,the Milky Way stretches from horizon to horizon .

  13. natwaterson 39 months ago | reply

    Hi, I'm an admin for Astronomy Photographer of the Year, and we'd love to have this photo added to the group!

  14. melenama 35 months ago | reply

    Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Australia by tips4travels, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

  15. Te Whiu 33 months ago | reply

    Awesome night photo! Beautiful Australia!!
    seen in: Flickr Australia

  16. The Canon Guy! 31 months ago | reply

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  17. Emotioned.com 28 months ago | reply

    We are working on a monthly travel and adventure sport competition, all winning entries will be published in an online magazine. Judge panel will selected from Flickr.

    There are 3 parts of the competition, 2 parts are currently under development:

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  18. tapulan 13 months ago | reply

    beautiful, this is very seldom to see with barely eyes. graphic design maryborough

  19. jcqsmer 10 months ago | reply

    Absolutely superb!!

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