#nightscape photography

[pix4japan]

Gatehouse to Shrine (Enoshima Island, Fujisawa, Kanagawa Pref., Japan)

Zuishinmon, the gatehouse at the top of the first set of stairs, just past the grand torii gate, is modeled after the mythical Dragon King Castle (Ryugu-jo) that is depicted in the Japanese folktale “Urashima Taro.”

The kanji characters used for Zuishinmon (瑞心門) literally mean “pure” + “heart” + “gate” and named as such in hope that the hearts of visitors will be purified as they pass through the gate as they approach the shrines atop the island.

In this shot, we can also enjoy the sight of chochin paper lanterns that have been put out for the New Year’s holidays and used to light up the winding stairs leading to the top of the island.

Pentax K-1 II + DFA 28-105mm F3.5-5.6 28 mm ISO 100 for 1 sec. at ƒ/22

[fairytaleprincessart]

[vangoghcore]

by starwalker0202

[spookyasmr]

[galina]

[skylobster]

The beauty of the sky near Orion, full of dense interstellar gas and dust, and a cradle of creation, where new star systems are born.

Orion Pines : Taken with a camera fixed to a tripod, many short exposures were aligned with the stars to unveil this beautiful, dark night sky. Captured near the rural village of Albany`a at the northeastern corner of Spain, the three stars of Orion’s belt stretch across top center in the starry frame. Alnitak, the easternmost (left) of the belt stars is seen next to the more diffuse glow of the Flame Nebula and the dark notch of the famous Horsehead. Easily visible to the naked-eye The Great Nebula of Orion is below the belt stars. A mere 1,500 light-years distant, it is the closest large stellar nursery to our fair planet. Best seen in photographs, the broad and faint arc of Barnard’s Loop seems to embrace Orion’s brighter stars and nebulae though. In the northern spring the familiar northern winter constellation is setting. Near the western horizon toward lower right Orion’s apparently bright blue supergiant Rigel just touches the branches of a pine tree. via NASA

[pix4japan]

Three Subordinate Shrines (Hiratsuka Hachimangu Shrine, Kanagawa Pref., Japan)

Shinmeisha Shrine (神明社)

The small shrine on the left enshrines three deities of success and prosperity in business.

Wakamiya Shrine (若宮社)

The slightly larger shrine in the center enshrines a guardian deity for parenting and children.

Suwa Shrine (諏訪社)

The small shrine on the right enshrines a deity of good luck and traffic safety.

All three shrines have an ancient style of Shinto shrine architecture with forked finials called chigi (千木) that extend out and above the roofline.

An old document from the year 804 references the prescribed dimensions of the finials, which have both a structural and decorative purpose.

Open-ended slots at the ends of the finials indicate that a female deity is enshrined, where a vertical slot indicates a male deity being enshrined.

Pentax K-1 II + DFA 28-105mm F3.5-5.6 28 mm ISO 100 for 8 sec. at ƒ/10

[fairytaleprincessart]

[vangoghcore]

by ilonaramona

[skylobster]

A shame we can’t see nightscapes like this with our naked eye. That being said, seeing the “backbone of night” (the Milky Way) from a truly dark location is an awe-inspiring sight!

2024 February 21

Seagull Nebula over Pinnacles’ Peak Image Credit & Copyright: Dheera Venkatraman

Explanation: The bird is bigger than the peak. Nicknamed for its avian shape, the Seagull Nebula is an emission nebula on the night sky that is vast, spanning an angle over five times the diameter of the full moon and over 200 light years. The head of the nebula is catalogued as IC 2177, and the star cluster under its right wing is catalogued as NGC 2343. Consisting of mostly red-glowing hydrogen gas, the Seagull Nebula incorporates some dust lanes and is forming stars. The peak over which this Seagull seems to soar occurs at Pinnacles National Park in California, USA. The featured image is a composite of long exposure images of the background sky and short exposure images of the foreground, all taken consecutively with the same camera and from the same location.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240221.html

[kinuphoto]

[moodboardmix]

Casa Batlló, Barcelona, Spain

@Ken4photo

[summerwages]

Drums...

And there are drums beyond the mountain

Indian drums that you can't hear

There are drums beyond the mountain and

they're getting mighty near...

Floyd Red Crow Westerman 🎵 (chorus)

[skylobster]

Beauty above and below

Milky Way & Bioluminescence l sjarmanphoto l New Zealand

[alexmurison]

Spent the weekend wild camping in the remote welsh mountains

[spookyasmr]