Southern Hemisphere Night Sky and Cactus
by James Brunker
Title
Southern Hemisphere Night Sky and Cactus
Artist
James Brunker
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
The Milky Way rises above a giant forked cactus on Incahuasi Island in the middle of the Salar de Uyuni in south west Bolivia in the pre dawn twilight. The Southern Cross can be clearly seen above the forked cactus to the left. The 2 bright stars below it and close to the cactus are Alpha and Beta Centauri (also called Rigil Kentaurus and Hadar, Alpha is the lower one in the image), the brightest stars in the constellation of Centaurus. The bright star centre right is Canopus, the 2nd brightest star in the night sky (after Sirius).
The Salar de Uyuni is the world's largest salt flat, covering 10,582 square km / 4,086 square miles. The cacti (which have been lit by some light painting with a torch) are Echinopsis atacamensis (pasacana subspecies). Some flowers can be seen near the top of teh largest one. They grow in Bolivia and northern Argentina and are common in the region. In the cold dry climate they only grow at approx 1cm a year, the tallest are well over 10m high.
Photograph © James Brunker. Reproduction, transmission or use in any form (print, website, etc) without prior written permission strictly prohibited.
Uploaded
March 25th, 2018
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