Alan Zhao, The Eye of Night Sky (SINGLE SHOT 2023)

The Eye of Night Sky is made up of two essential elements i.e. the moon and the milky way arch. The moon needs to be in the centre of the milky way arch and is close to horizon. The moon phase needs to be in either Waxing Crescent or Waning Crescent when the moon light is not too bright so the milky way is visible. The milky way must be in the right angle to be able to capture a perfect arch. To best align the sky with the foreground, the moon should rise or set between the pinnacles and under the galactic core. There are only a couple of nights in a year when all the elements come together. I have planned to capture this before Covid 19 but due to Covid restrictions and weather permissions, I waited for 3 years before I finally made it in September 2022. This is a panoramic picture made up of 27 images at the same location stitched together. In this image, you can also see Large Magellanic Clouds, Small Magellanic Clouds, and Aurora at the south end the Milky Way.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.