Armageddon

We had the first cloudless day in a long time, and the moon was due to set a bit after midnight, so I drove out to the mesa west of Lybrook, New Mexico, and spent the night photographing the landscape of the badlands under the stars. Just before midnight, I noticed a fire about ten miles to the west. I called 911 to report it and learned that it was an oil rig fire. (It turned out to be a fire at an oil storage area.) It burned all night, at times covering the sky over me with black smoke. After a couple of hours, the wind shifted and the smoke blew off to the north. So I got to take some star photos after all.

Done