Midnight Eruption - Metal Print - Landscape Version

The Galactic Center of the Milky Way is the brightest area of the night sky. From April to September this part of the sky is visible on the Central Coast of California. I set out to capture the Milky Way over Morro Rock in mid June of 2021, all I needed was a clear sky, lower tide and to wake up early in the morning to line up the shot. An added bonus was that the June Lyrids meteor shower happened at this time, so I was able to capture a couple of small meteors in this photo.

My intent was to create the look of an eruption over Morro Rock. Since Morro Rock is a volcanic plug that was formed approximately 23 million years ago, I thought that putting the galactic center over the rock would create the look of a volcanic eruption.

The Zodiac constellations of Sagittarius and Scorpius are located in this part of the sky.

Photo taken: June 11, 2021. 

This is a single shot, not a composite, and was photographed using a 14mm lens, wide open with a high ISO with a Canon 5DMkIV camera.

This is a cropped version in Landscape Mode. For the Original Portrait version go to: Midnight Eruption (portrait mode).

(The light to the left of the rock is a parking lot light.)

Links: Galactic Center,  Morro Rock,  Milky Way Galaxy.