Emerald Lake in the Bear Lake Basin of Rocky Mountain National Park is a unique place to experience the splendor of the Milky Way.
In August, the Milky Way rises at around four in the morning in the gap between 3,877 m (12,720 ft) Hallett Peak on the left and 3,756 m (12,324 ft) Flattop Mountain on the right. Because of its prominent rock needles, however, the latter appears anything but flat at its summit. One day before the new moon, the crescent moon bathes the scenery in an enchanting light. The Summer Triangle, consisting of the three very bright stars Deneb, Vega, and Altair in the constellations Cygnus, Lyra, and Aquila, gleams within the bright band of the Milky Way. The Milky Way itself is traversed by a dark band of interstellar dust that obscures the light of the stars behind it.
The trough between the mountain peaks contains the Tyndall Glacier, a small remnant of what was once an impressive valley glacier. Today, its remains consist largely of frozen boulders and debris, forming a rock glacier. Tyndall Creek flows through a series of beautiful lakes on its way into the valley, including Emerald Lake, Dream Lake, and Bear Lake. The cirques in which these lakes are located were scoured out by the Tyndall Glacier during the last Ice Age.
The mountain range forms part of the Continental Divide of the Rocky Mountains, and Emerald Lake is located on its dry eastern side. Tyndall Creek therefore carries its water eastward toward the Atlantic Ocean, while all streams west of the divide flow toward the Pacific Ocean. When it rains along this ridge, the paths of neighboring raindrops and snowflakes falling west and east of the divide separate, taking them on very different journeys for a very long time.
Technically, this starscape photograph of Emerald Lake is a 180° horizontal and 180° vertical composite of nine static landscape images and nine dynamic star-tracking images, each taken at a focal length of 14 mm with a four-minute exposure. The resulting image has a resolution of 171 megapixels.
A night beneath the Milky Way at Emerald Lake is such an emotional experience, and so far removed from our everyday world, that the perspective of what is essential becomes obvious and tangible once again. Our planet is such a unique and enchanting place in the depths of the universe, and it is home to all of us. Such a night inspires deep respect and awe and awakens a lasting desire to rethink what truly matters.
