Skyscapes of the Night: A Portfolio

Skyscapes of the Night

What is it that makes the starry night sky so compelling? Could it just be that night is so completely different from day, or that it evokes a sense of wonder and peace? Perhaps it is the realization that the starlight reaching our eyes started its long, long journey through space in a time and place far beyond our comprehension.

Or maybe it is something more, something persistent within us that asks, "What is out there, hiding in the shadows between the stars?" Whose challenge is that? The astronomer's? The astronaut's? The philosopher's? Whatever the attraction, the human race has always been star-struck, forever prone to probe the secrets of the

Through a transparent window we gaze Upon a glittering sky, Inviting us to put away the day, To dream the dreams of night, And follow star trails Across the celestial sphere. -F.Z.

Halley's Comet, viewed from the Superstition Wilderness shortly before dawn on March 21, 1986, traverses the southern sky. The three brightest stars near the center of the photograph form the "shoulder" of the constellation Sagittarius, the Archer.

Photographing the Starry Night

Beautiful portraits of the night sky can be taken with ordinary photographic equipment. A 35mm camera with lenses ranging in focal length from 28mm to 100mm will be quite effective. Mount the camera on a standard tripod and you have a stationary instrument that can be used to photograph much of what can be seen with the unaided eye: constellations, star clusters, meteors, moonlit landscapes, star trails, and more. Adding the ability to track the “moving” sky will allow you to penetrate deep er into the nighttime universe. Long exposures gather more light, making it possible to record fainter stars, nebulae, and even a distant galaxy or two. Tracking devices range from a modest homemade mount to expensive telescopic systems. An inquisitive imagination, not costly equipment, is the key. Whether you spend long hours tracking deep sky photos or take a few simple star-trail pictures, the rewards will be many. -F.Z.

Skyscapes

Text continued from page 22 heavens through both mysticism and science. I am as vulnerable to that seduction as any other, but I no longer look for answers. I want only to capture and share the beauty of Arizona's nighttime skyscapes through faithful photographic images. Yet they are just that, images, half-illumined clues, nebulous hints of that for which we search. As poets have always known, the true soul of night can never be found in the physical world-for it emanates from within the infinite dimensions of our own inner starry skies.

28 February 1988