Wonders of the Texas Night Sky in Big Bend

The dark #TexasNightSky of Big Bend is truly spectacular and a sight to see.  Here in the far reaches of west Texas the lack of light pollution and desert air lead to clear skies filled with stars.  Sit out here and you will no longer wonder why the song says "The stars at night are big and bright deep in the heart of Texas".  Once you experience the night sky here, you will want to be back for more.

On my spring trip last year I went with a plan to see how I could work the night sky and Milky Way in particular into different landscape images as a so called nightscape.  The scenery takes on another level of beauty when you can capture it with the Milky Way.  So no matter how many times I have seen a location, I am always in awe of seeing it and getting an image at night too.

The top image here is of Mule Ears Peak.  I have driven by this view countless times.  I have photographed several sunsets and sunrises of these peaks.  I have even photographed them at night a few times.  This trip I had the location and early morning time ready and went on two different mornings to get the best sky conditions to get this image of the Milky way rising over the peaks for what is now my favorite image I have of them.

I have photographed from the nature trail in Rio Grande Village many times.  Might be the single best photo spot in the park with great views at both sunrise and sunset.  Another location I have made many daylight images at that takes on an entirely new look at night with the colors of the night sky.  Here is a view overlooking the Rio Grande, to the distant mountains of Mexico and out into the depth of the night.

A third location I visit on a regular basis is the ancient volcanic core of Cerro Castellan.  This mountain is a dominant feature visible for many miles on the western side of the park.  The geology alone is worth a stop.  I have photographed this many times day and night. So this last trip I wanted to see how I could keep finding images of it and got this of a lonely ocotillo among the barren tuff of the mountain side.  

The bright core of our galaxy that we call the Milky Way rising over both the extinct volcano remains and the young desert flora.  Here in the dark and the quiet you can gain a new perspective on life.

Lastly a fun image.  I was camped at one of the back road site and decided to run the camera all night for a star trail.  Here my Honda Element reflects the dim light from deep space.