This was
your sky.

Galaxy in a Crystal Ball

This creative snapshot shows a small crystal ball seemingly holding our Milky Way galaxy. The galaxy's luminous central bulge, marked by rifts of interstellar dust, spans thousands of light-years. On this long southern hemisphere night, it filled the dark Chilean skies over Paranal Observatory. This single exposure image was taken with a digital camera and a crystal ball on a handrail outside the Paranal Residencia.