Intimate view in the Kalahari Desert

Imagine sleeping in the dry and dusty Kalahari desert. Then you open your eyes, because sudden wind hits your tent. You open the door of tent and go to check out what is going on. And then… this! Even in the dusty air the view in the sky was incredible…

As shown on annotated version, this is what was in the night sky before windy daybreak on 13th September 2015, followed by unique partial solar eclipse. The sky was full of the brightest stars – Sirius, Achernar and Canopus. Faint part of the rising Milky Way showed up above the dusty horizon with numerous emission nebulae such as Gum Nebula (Vela), the Barnard’s Loop (Orion), Rosetta Nebula (Monoceros) or the California Nebula (Perseus), unfortunately no visible to human eyes but only to sensitive camera. Just behind tree where the right part of the Milky Way continues over the horizon, there you can notice reddish Carina Nebula too. And – of course – two majestic Magellanic clouds, just over the car. There was no other sound then the whispering wind and all the farm Dqae Qare was deeply sleeping, including my friends in the car tent (provided by Safra-Go company, co-organizer of the expedition). This intimate view belonged only to me and I felt the need to share with you. So here it is… Used Canon 6D Baader IR modified, Samyang 24 mm, f2.8, ISO 10000, 43×15 seconds panorama.