Photography

Posted on Oct 11, 2020

APOD: 2020 October 11 - Milky Way over the Pinnacles in Australia

Maj William W. 'Bill' Price

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Good morning, Rallypoint. Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is titled "Milky Way over the Pinnacles in Australia." The Pinnacles are limestone formations within Nambung National Park, north of Perth, Australia near the town of Cervantes. This 29-image panorama was captured in September 2015. A crescent Moon is perched behind the central pinnacle, and the glow about the Moon extending either way along the horizon is zodiacal light (sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust).

The raw material for the limestone of the Pinnacles came from seashells in an earlier era that was rich in marine life. These shells were broken down into lime-rich sands that were blown inland to form high mobile dunes. Over time, they became calcified into the features they exhibit today. Unlike hoodoos (sedimentary columns with igneous caps), pinnacles have a consistent morphology. I can easily imagine the motion of tectonic plates submerging a forest where calcium-rich sediments were deposited in casts formed by tree trunks, were subsequently lithified, and then exposed by erosion. But that is just one of three different theories on how The Pinnacles came to be. They do provide a bit of an alien landscape feel for today's APOD.

APOD: 2020 October 11 - Milky Way over the Pinnacles in Australia

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LTC Stephen F.

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The Pinnacle Desert Western Australia

Lara and I holidayed up north and drove through the pinnacle desert near Cevantes 200 km north of Perth Song - Metallica, Wherever I May Roam

Thank you my friend Maj William W. 'Bill' Price for posting the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) for Sunday, October 11, 2020 entitled "Milky Way over the Pinnacles in Australia."

I hope and pray you each are having a peaceful and blessed Sunday.

This wonderful picture reminds me of why Australia is used as a backdrop for apocalyptic movies :-)

Image: Milky Way over the Pinnacles in Australia - Image Credit & Copyright - Michael Goh

APOD background
"Explanation: What strange world is this? Earth. In the foreground of the featured image are the Pinnacles, unusual rock spires in Nambung National Park in Western Australia. Made of ancient sea shells (limestone), how these human-sized picturesque spires formed remains unknown. In the background, just past the end of the central Pinnacle, is a bright crescent Moon. The eerie glow around the Moon is mostly zodiacal light, sunlight reflected by dust grains orbiting between the planets in the Solar System. Arching across the top is the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. Many famous stars and nebulas are also visible in the background night sky. The featured 29-panel panorama was taken and composed in 2015 September after detailed planning that involved the Moon, the rock spires, and their corresponding shadows. Even so, the strong zodiacal light was a pleasant surprise."

The Pinnacle Desert Western Australia
https://youtu.be/sYoJgajqfV0?t=18

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LTC Stephen F.

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