Milky Way over the desert

The desert’s dry air and distance from major cities make Joshua Tree one of the better dark-sky destinations in Southern California, even with a faint glow from Palm Springs still visible low on the horizon. The galaxy’s core stood out clearly to the naked eye once eyes had adjusted for a while.

Getting the shot

30 seconds at f/3.2 was close to the practical limit for keeping stars as points rather than short trails at this focal length. A silhouetted tree line and low hill in the foreground gave the sky some grounding rather than floating in empty black.