A Tree, a Man and the Mesmerising Presence of our Cosmic Home
Feeling blessed to live so close to Dark Sky® Alqueva reserve where I can easily reach places like this, places that I love and where pristine skies are still possible to see. On this particular night taken during one of my workshops at the end of Summer, the airglow was visible and painted the background sky with greenish hues. In front of the airglow, a few high clouds announce the proximity of Winter, while Milky Way is straight up to the Zenith, the core is getting low and close to the horizon and in a few weeks no longer will be visible until next Summer. In the foreground, my silhouette as a stargazer stands at the side of a lonely wonderful tree which rises leafy before the majesty presence of our cosmic home.
PT: Sinto-me abençoada por viver tão perto do Dark Sky® Alqueva onde posso chegar facilmente a lugares como este, lugares que me apaixonam e onde ainda é possível disfrutar de um céu pristino. Nesta noite em particular, que decorreu durante um dos meus workshops no final do verão, o airglow era visível e pintava o céu de fundo com tons esverdeados. Diante do airglow, algumas nuvens altas anunciam a proximidade do Inverno, enquanto a Via Láctea sobe em direcção ao zénite, o núcleo vai ficando baixo e próximo ao horizonte e em algumas semanas não será mais visível até ao próximo Verão. Em primeiro plano, está a minha silhueta enquanto observador de estrelas, lado a lado com uma árvore solitária mas que se ergue frondosa diante a grandeza desta paisagem cósmica.
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You can choose the best style of print do you preffer to decorate in a fashion way your walls. Metal Prints with durable and vivid colors, Acrylic, Canvas or the highest quality Gallery Print – a 6 colour UV direct printing on acrylic glass (2mm) including light colours and reinforced by an aluminium dibond plate (3mm). Those type of Prints can highlight the final work in an artistic way, showing the photograph as a piece of art. I work with two high quality specialized Labs in US and in Europe, using Kodak Professional Endura Premier Metallic papers and Fujifilm Crystal Archive DP II Professional. You can select the image above or freely navigate to more than 800 photographs available in my gallery – each one with their own story and magic – and choose the photograph you would love to have in your home or office.
How to Order – Simple and easy, just “copy and paste” the link of this page or the image you choosed and fill it in the form below, with the size you want and any detail you wish to include on the message, like your country, name and postal address. Free Shipping included to all prints (except frames). For US and Europe the delivery is 4-8 working days, while to Portugal and Spain is normally 2-6 working days. After submitting the order through the form, I will contact you for the payment method (Paypal available or bank transfer) and with other questions related to your print(s) or requests. Once payment is confirmed, your order is shipped within 24h. In case you wish, I can send you separtely with no additional cost, a postcard autographed and numbered of the same image you have just bought, as a seal and proof of art work authenticity from the author. Let me know what is your wish.
Our Greatness Rises When We Recognise The beauty Immersed in Each Corner of the Universe
Sometimes all you need is just…being under the stars to understand how big, we humans, can be. Big, by the simple fact that we can have a conscience of our limits when trying to “understand” a small fraction of what we are looking at. But our greatness rises, when we are able to recognise all the beauty immersed in each piece of Nature, in each corner of the Universe! Captured on my recent astro astro workshop at Dark Sky® Alqueva. My thanks to participants Daniela and Ana, which posed for me in this single shot.
PT: Por vezes tudo que precisamos é apenas…relaxar, e estar sob a grandeza de um céu estrelado pristino, para entender o quão grandes, nós humanos, podemos ser. Grandes pelo simples facto de termos a consciência dos nossos limites ao tentar “entender” uma pequena fracção do que se avista diante os nossos olhos. Mas a nossa grandeza aumenta, quando somos capazes de reconhecer toda a Beleza presente em cada pedaço da Natureza, em cada canto do Universo! Captada recentemente durante o meu workshop de astrofotografia no Dark Sky® Alqueva. Os meus agradecimentos às participantes Daniela e Ana, que posaram para mim nesta foto de um disparo único.
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You can choose the best style of print do you preffer to decorate in a fashion way your walls. Metal Prints with durable and vivid colors, Acrylic, Canvas or the highest quality Gallery Print – a 6 colour UV direct printing on acrylic glass (2mm) including light colours and reinforced by an aluminium dibond plate (3mm). Those type of Prints can highlight the final work in an artistic way, showing the photograph as a piece of art. I work with two high quality specialized Labs in US and in Europe, using Kodak Professional Endura Premier Metallic papers and Fujifilm Crystal Archive DP II Professional. You can select the image above or freely navigate to more than 800 photographs available in my gallery – each one with their own story and magic – and choose the photograph you would love to have in your home or office.
How to Order – Simple and easy, just “copy and paste” the link of this page or the image you choosed and fill it in the form below, with the size you want and any detail you wish to include on the message, like your country, name and postal address. Free Shipping included to all prints (except frames). For US and Europe the delivery is 4-8 working days, while to Portugal and Spain is normally 2-6 working days. After submitting the order through the form, I will contact you for the payment method (Paypal available or bank transfer) and with other questions related to your print(s) or requests. Once payment is confirmed, your order is shipped within 24h. In case you wish, I can send you separtely with no additional cost, a postcard autographed and numbered of the same image you have just bought, as a seal and proof of art work authenticity from the author. Let me know what is your wish.
Sirius Occultation by a Tree Silhouette Against the Faint Path of Winter Milky Way
A night scene from Dark Sky® Vale do Tua territory, shows the dark silhouette of a tree against the faint path of winter Milky Way few minutes before making an occultation of bluish star Sirius while crossing behind the dark branches. Colourful and bright stars from well known winter constellations like Orion, Gemini, or Canis Major, are spread in the starry background. Reddish pink hues from Hydrogen-alpha emission nebulae, are painting the dark sky easily revealing deepsky objects like Rosette Nebula or Barnards loop.
PT: Um cenário nocturno captado no território do Dark Sky® Vale do Tua, mostra a silhueta escura de uma árvore contra o ténue caminho da Via Láctea de Inverno, alguns minutos antes desta fazer uma ocultação da estrela azulada Sirius, enquanto esta transitava por detrás dos seus ramos. Estrelas coloridas e brilhantes de constelações de Inverno bem conhecidas como Orion, Gémeos ou o Cão Maior, espalham-se num pano de fundo estrelado. Tons de rosa avermelhado pertencem às nebulosas de emissão de hidrogénio-alfa, que pintam assim o céu escuro revelando facilmente objetos do céu profundo como a Nebulosa da Roseta ou o loop de Barnard.
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You can choose the best style of print do you preffer to decorate in a fashion way your walls. Metal Prints with durable and vivid colors, Acrylic, Canvas or the highest quality Gallery Print – a 6 colour UV direct printing on acrylic glass (2mm) including light colours and reinforced by an aluminium dibond plate (3mm). Those type of Prints can highlight the final work in an artistic way, showing the photograph as a piece of art. I work with two high quality specialized Labs in US and in Europe, using Kodak Professional Endura Premier Metallic papers and Fujifilm Crystal Archive DP II Professional. You can select the image above or freely navigate to more than 800 photographs available in my gallery – each one with their own story and magic – and choose the photograph you would love to have in your home or office.
How to Order – Simple and easy, just “copy and paste” the link of this page or the image you choosed and fill it in the form below, with the size you want and any detail you wish to include on the message, like your country, name and postal address. Free Shipping included to all prints (except frames). For US and Europe the delivery is 4-8 working days, while to Portugal and Spain is normally 2-6 working days. After submitting the order through the form, I will contact you for the payment method (Paypal available or bank transfer) and with other questions related to your print(s) or requests. Once payment is confirmed, your order is shipped within 24h. In case you wish, I can send you separtely with no additional cost, a postcard autographed and numbered of the same image you have just bought, as a seal and proof of art work authenticity from the author. Let me know what is your wish.
Milky Way All Sky and VR 360º Night Experience above Castro de Palheiros in Dark Sky® Vale do Tua
A full dome and 360º Virtual Reality scene features the path of Milky Way shining high in the night sky, above Castro de Palheiros, or Fragada of Castro, territory of Dark Sky® Vale do Tua – a new certified Starlight Tourist Destination. Located in the heart of Natural Park of Tua Valley, in the northern part of Portugal, “is an imposing quartzite ridge that was being carved and built by the people of Murça region, between the beginning of the third millennium BC up to the present”, according to the Interpretative Center of this region. In the background, Summer Triangle highlights the center of the image, with blueish star Vega near the top. At the upper left corner – in the beginning of the Milky Way – a bright elliptic and diffuse dot is the light coming from Andromeda Galaxy. In the opposite direction – lower horizon – shines the dusty core of Milky Way galaxy full emission nebulae featuring a reddish pink hues. On the left side of the all sky scene – lies also planets Jupiter, visible with its bright light near the quartzite rock. Below is available a Virtual Realities 360º of this scene. You can experience a full 7K resolution using your desktop, or smartphone with gyroscope. A great “in loco” experience can be achieved if you wear a VR glasses.
PT: Um cenário All Sky e de Realidade Virtual 360º, apresenta o caminho da Via Láctea brilhando alto no céu noturno, acima do Castro de Palheiros, ou Fragada de Castro, território do Dark Sky® Vale do Tua – um novo Destino Turístico Starlight certificado. Situado no coração do Parque Natural do Vale do Tua, no norte de Portugal, o Castro “é uma imponente crista quartzítica que foi sendo esculpida e construída pelas populações da região de Murça, entre o início do terceiro milénio antes de Cristo até ao presente, segundo o Centro Interpretativo da região. Em pano de fundo, destaca-se o Triângulo do Verão ao centro da imagem, com a estrela azulada Vega a brilhar próximo do centro. No canto superior esquerdo – no início da Via Láctea – um ponto elíptico brilhante e difuso, pertence à luz da Galáxia vizinha de Andrómeda. Na direção oposta, perto do horizonte inferior, brilha o núcleo empoeirado da nossa galáxia Via Láctea, salpicado por uma imensidão de nebulosas de emissão que brilham em tons de rosa avermelhado. No lado esquerdo desta imagem circular de grande campo, encontram-se os planeta Júpiter, bem visível com a sua luz brilhante. Abaixo estão disponíveis duas Realidades Virtuais 360º desta imagem. O leitor pode assim experienciar esta Realidade Virtual em alta-resolução 7K usando o seu desktop ou smartphone com giroscópio. Uma ótima experiência “in loco” pode ser alcançada se usar óculos de realidade virtual.
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Buy a Fine Art Print or Wall Decor of this Image – Make your order Now!
You can choose the best style of print do you preffer to decorate in a fashion way your walls. Metal Prints with durable and vivid colors, Acrylic, Canvas or the highest quality Gallery Print – a 6 colour UV direct printing on acrylic glass (2mm) including light colours and reinforced by an aluminium dibond plate (3mm). Those type of Prints can highlight the final work in an artistic way, showing the photograph as a piece of art. I work with two high quality specialized Labs in US and in Europe, using Kodak Professional Endura Premier Metallic papers and Fujifilm Crystal Archive DP II Professional. You can select the image above or freely navigate to more than 800 photographs available in my gallery – each one with their own story and magic – and choose the photograph you would love to have in your home or office.
How to Order – Simple and easy, just “copy and paste” the link of this page or the image you choosed and fill it in the form below, with the size you want and any detail you wish to include on the message, like your country, name and postal address. Free Shipping included to all prints (except frames). For US and Europe the delivery is 4-8 working days, while to Portugal and Spain is normally 2-6 working days. After submitting the order through the form, I will contact you for the payment method (Paypal available or bank transfer) and with other questions related to your print(s) or requests. Once payment is confirmed, your order is shipped within 24h. In case you wish, I can send you separtely with no additional cost, a postcard autographed and numbered of the same image you have just bought, as a seal and proof of art work authenticity from the author. Let me know what is your wish.
Milky Way All Sky and VR 360º Night Experience from Death Valley
An all sky view and 360º Virtual Reality scene, features the path of Milky Way with its core shining above the horizon as seen from Death Valley National Park, in California, US. This full dome mosaic comprises 15 still images photographed from Zabriskie Point. The Milky Way was high in the Sky during that time (August) and the air temperature at midnight, was 41 centrigrade degrees. In the top center, a blue bright star Vega, from Lyra constellation, is forming an asterism well known as the “Summer Triangle” with stars Deneb (from Cygnus) and Altair (from Aquila). Close to the horizon, above the Amargosa mountain range, the core of Milky Way galaxy is shinning with its bright dust, and immersed in, are visible many emission nebulae featuring a reddish pink hue. Super giant star Antares, is the yellowish bright light at the right side of the galaxy core, visible among the “Dark River”, a brown dust lane which spans about 100 light years, and visually connects Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex to the center of the galaxy. You can experience in full resolution using your desktop, or smartphone with gyroscope. A great “in loco” experience can be achieved if you wear a VR glasses VR glasses.
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Buy a Fine Art Print or Wall Decor of this Image – Make your order Now!
You can choose the best style of print do you preffer to decorate in a fashion way your walls. Metal Prints with durable and vivid colors, Acrylic, Canvas or the highest quality Gallery Print – a 6 colour UV direct printing on acrylic glass (2mm) including light colours and reinforced by an aluminium dibond plate (3mm). Those type of Prints can highlight the final work in an artistic way, showing the photograph as a piece of art. I work with two high quality specialized Labs in US and in Europe, using Kodak Professional Endura Premier Metallic papers and Fujifilm Crystal Archive DP II Professional. You can select the image above or freely navigate to more than 800 photographs available in my gallery – each one with their own story and magic – and choose the photograph you would love to have in your home or office.
How to Order – Simple and easy, just “copy and paste” the link of this page or the image you choosed and fill it in the form below, with the size you want and any detail you wish to include on the message, like your country, name and postal address. Free Shipping included to all prints (except frames). For US and Europe the delivery is 4-8 working days, while to Portugal and Spain is normally 2-6 working days. After submitting the order through the form, I will contact you for the payment method (Paypal available or bank transfer) and with other questions related to your print(s) or requests. Once payment is confirmed, your order is shipped within 24h. In case you wish, I can send you separtely with no additional cost, a postcard autographed and numbered of the same image you have just bought, as a seal and proof of art work authenticity from the author. Let me know what is your wish.
Milky Way Scene above the Official Observatory of Dark Sky® Alqueva in Cumeada Village
The image shows a wide mosaic scene of the Official Dark Sky® Alqueva Observatory as seen from inside to outside. Located in the small village of Cumeada, near Reguengos city, in Alentejo, Portugal, the area comprises a recovered building with some history from an old primary school adapted to receive two roll-off roof observatories equipped with cutting-edge telescopes for visual astronomical observations and for astrophotography purposes. Dark Sky@ Alqueva, was since 2011 the First Starlight Tourism Destination in the World and one of the first to successfully implement and develop the concept known as Astrotourism, being awarded in 2019 with a “Tourism Oscar” from World Travel Awards, as Europe´s Responsible Tourism Award 2019. A dedicated team is permanently making large efforts to change minds, sensitising the problem of light pollution and trying along with authorities to improve the quality of the night sky and life in all forms, to achieve a better street illumination. As result, Cumeada village has only 70 street lights, all of them directly pointing to the ground, using low power and a color temperature of 2700 kelvin. The ideia of Astrotourism, is not to create a total blackout on the villages or cities, but instead is to showing a positive impact on society inspiring the will of travelling for a major purpose. With this measures, is possible to respect the night sky and all the surrounding needs from locals, while enjoying the comfort of modernity such as good restaurants and rural hotels to rest, as well as wonderful night activities which is can be held under a pristine and protected sky, such as stargazing with naked eye or telescopes. This complex mosaic shows in the background the beautiful summer arch of Milky Way galaxy above the village and Observatory, revealing that is possible to clearly distinguish the Milky Way arch in all of its splendour, as well as the street itself, roads and surroundings, meaning that people can feel secure and peaceful at the same time. This procedure had a huge impact in the night sky quality that is constantly monitored with a Sky Quality Meter registering an average measurement of SQM: 21.40 mag/arcsec^2.
PT: A imagem revela uma ampla cena em mosaico do Observatório Oficial Dark Sky® Alqueva, visto de dentro para fora. Localizado na pequena vila de Cumeada, perto da cidade de Reguengos, no Alentejo, Portugal, a área compreende um edifício histórico recuperado de uma antiga escola primária do Estado Novo, adaptado para receber dois observatórios de tecto retráctil equipados com telescópios de ponta para observações astronómicas visuais e para fins de astrofotografia. O Dark Sky @ Alqueva, desde 2011, foi o Primeiro Destino Starlight do Mundo e um dos primeiros a implementar e desenvolver com sucesso o conceito denominado Astroturismo, tendo sido premiado em 2019 com um “Oscar do Turismo” nos aclamados World Travel Awards, como “Europe´s Responsible Tourism Award 2019″. Uma equipa dedicada está permanentemente a fazer grandes esforços para mudar as mentes, sensibilizando o problema da poluição luminosa e tentando junto das autoridades competentes, melhorar a qualidade do céu noturno e da vida em todas as suas formas, para obter assim uma iluminação mais saudável e eficiente das ruas públicas. Como resultado, a vila de Cumeada possui apenas 70 luminárias, todos elas apontando directamente para o solo, usando pouca energia e uma temperatura de cor de 2700 kelvin. A ideia do astroturismo não é criar um blackout total nas aldeias ou cidades, mas sim mostrar um impacto positivo na sociedade, inspirando a vontade de viajar para um objetivo maior. Com estas medidas, é possível respeitar o céu noturno e todas as necessidades dos habitantes locais, enquanto se desfruta do conforto da modernidade, com bons restaurantes e hotéis rurais para descansar, além de actividades noturnas maravilhosas que podem ser realizadas sob um céu pristino e agradável, como observar as estrelas a olho nu ou com telescópios. Este mosaico complexto mostra em pano de fundo o belo arco de verão da Via Láctea acima da vila e do Observatório, revelando que é possível distinguir claramente o arco da Via Láctea em todo o seu esplendor, bem como a própria rua, as estradas e arredores, o que significa que as pessoas podem se sentir seguras e em paz ao mesmo tempo. Este procedimento teve um enorme impacto na qualidade do céu noturno da região da sede, que é constantemente monitorizado com um Medidor da Qualidade do Céu (SQM) registando uma medida média de SQM: 21,45 mag/arcsec^2.
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Buy a Fine Art Print or Wall Decor of this Image – Make your order Now!
You can choose the best style of print do you preffer to decorate in a fashion way your walls. Metal Prints with durable and vivid colors, Acrylic, Canvas or the highest quality Gallery Print – a 6 colour UV direct printing on acrylic glass (2mm) including light colours and reinforced by an aluminium dibond plate (3mm). Those type of Prints can highlight the final work in an artistic way, showing the photograph as a piece of art. I work with two high quality specialized Labs in US and in Europe, using Kodak Professional Endura Premier Metallic papers and Fujifilm Crystal Archive DP II Professional. You can select the image above or freely navigate to more than 800 photographs available in my gallery – each one with their own story and magic – and choose the photograph you would love to have in your home or office.
How to Order – Simple and easy, just “copy and paste” the link of this page or the image you choosed and fill it in the form below, with the size you want and any detail you wish to include on the message, like your country, name and postal address. Free Shipping included to all prints (except frames). For US and Europe the delivery is 4-8 working days, while to Portugal and Spain is normally 2-6 working days. After submitting the order through the form, I will contact you for the payment method (Paypal available or bank transfer) and with other questions related to your print(s) or requests. Once payment is confirmed, your order is shipped within 24h. In case you wish, I can send you separtely with no additional cost, a postcard autographed and numbered of the same image you have just bought, as a seal and proof of art work authenticity from the author. Let me know what is your wish.
Full Dome View from Saint Petersburg Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood
A fish-eye fulldome view shows one of the iconics landmarks of Saint Petersburg, in Russia, the Orthodox Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, erected on the precise site where emperor Alexander II was fatally attacked. Featuring the largest collection of mosaics in Russia, during the war, the church had serious damages in the walls and a high-explosive bomb was stuck for a long period of about 20th years in one of the walls without being noticed and by miracle, without exploding. Even being captured in night time and under the street lights, it´s artistic beauty can not be hidden, like it was happening with most of the stars under the effect of light pollution. Only bright stars like Vega can be well visible from polluted skies, being the brightest path on the background sky, it represents the sideral motion of a star over the course of one hour, which is approximately 15º.
PT: Uma visão olho de peixe circular revela um dos marcos emblemáticos de São Petersburgo, na Rússia, a Igreja Ortodoxa do Salvador do Sangue Derramado, erguida no local exacto em que o imperador Alexandre II foi fatalmente atacado. Exibindo a maior coleção de mosaicos da Rússia, durante a guerra, a igreja sofreu sérios danos nas paredes e uma bomba altamente explosiva ficou presa por um longo período de 20 anos em uma das paredes, sem que ninguém notasse e por milagre, sem explodir. Mesmo tendo sido captada durante o periodo noctunro e sob a influência da iluminação pública, a sua beleza artística não pode ser apagada, tal como acontece com a maioria das estrelas que sob o efeito da poluição luminosa, parecem desvanecer. Somente estrelas mais brilhantes como Vega, podem ser visíveis em céus poluídos. Registada nesta imagem como o rasto mais brilhante no céu de fundo, representa assim o movimento sideral de uma estrela ao longo de uma hora, o equivalente a cerca de 15º.
Nostalgia – A Mesmerizing View that Can be Lost Forever
With the Summer ending in Northern Hemisphere, it’s time to say goodbye to our Milky Way, at least to the brightest colorful dusty heart of our galaxy. For those of us who loves spending entire nights outside watching and enjoying the night sky, it can leads to a feeling of Nostalgia, but its just a matter of time regarding the natural motion of our planet orbiting the sun, and you know that you will get back again to this amazing views within six months. Although, if we not take care and face the increasing light pollution as a serious problem of nowadays, in a near future, a vision like that could be only achieved through a photograph of a remote reality, leading to a permanent lost of the night sky, as it has to be… beautiful starry and deeply dark!.
PT: Com o verão a terminar no Hemisfério Norte, é hora de dizer adeus à nossa Via Láctea, pelo menos ao coração poeirento e colorido que “jaz” no centro da galáxia. Para aqueles de nós que adoram passar noites inteiras ao relento e apenas a contemplar o céu noturno, este adeus pode levar a um sentimento de Nostalgia ou numa singular palavra portuguesa, Saudade! Mas será apenas uma questão de tempo decorrente do movimento natural do nosso planeta em orbtia do sol, até podermos voltar a ter acesso novamente a estas vistas incríveis, numa expectável espera de cerca de seis meses. No entanto, se não tomarmos as devidas precauções e encararmos a crescente poluição luminosa como um grave problema dos dias de hoje, em um futuro próximo, uma visão como essa só poderá ser alcançada através da fotografia de uma realidade remota, levando a uma perda permanente do céu noturno, como supostamente deveria ser… lindamente estrelado e profundamente escuro!
Sharing a Passion Under the Big Dipper
This recent scene shows my silhouette holding the hand of my soulmate, while enjoying Ursa Major constellation shinning bright above the newborn destination in central Portugal, named Dark Sky Aldeias de Xisto! Each time we look up at the sky, we celebrate not only a special love, but also the gift of sharing together our same passion about the Universe and the Nature itself. If you have not yet found your soulmate, please don’t give up and don’t stop trying to achieve your dreams! Look up at a starry sky and remember that there are millions of stars and constellations waiting to be discovered and appreciated by you! Even if you have not yet recognized them, doesn’t mean that they don’t exist…they’re always there, shining in beauty and waiting for you!! The first time you recognize a pattern of a constellation in the night sky, you will never forget it and maybe you could find the right direction to go…same happens when you let the love In.
PT: Um cenário nocturno revela a minha silhueta segurando a mão da minha alma gémea, enquanto observamos juntos as estrelas que compõem a constelação da Ursa Maior, que brilha intensamente sobre o recém-nascido destino turístico starlight, Dark Sky Aldeias de Xisto, na região centro de Portuga! Cada vez que olhamos para o céu, celebramos não apenas um amor especial, mas também o dom de compartilhar juntos uma mesma paixão pelo Universo e pela própria Natureza. Se o leitor ainda não encontrou a sua cara-metade, por favor, não desista e não pare de tentar alcançar os seus sonhos! Olhe para um céu estrelado e lembre-se de que existem milhões de estrelas e constelações à espera de serem descobertas e apreciadas por si! Mesmo se ainda não as reconheceu, não significa que elas não existem…na verdade estão sempre lá, brilhando em beleza enquanto esperam parcientemente por si!! A primeira vez que reconhecer um padrão de uma constelação no céu noturno, diria que nunca mais o vai esquecer e talvez consiga assim encontrar a direção certa para onde seguir… o mesmo acontece quando cada um de nós deixa verdadeiramente o amor entrar nas nossas vidas.
Spica and Arcturus are Shinning in a Starry Sky over Tua Valley
Located between Pombal de Ansiães and the place of S. Lourenço, this belvedere, allow us to enjoy a privileged night scene over the Tua Valley, a magnificent landscape marked by a nice cut of the mountains spread with vineyards, olive trees and cork oaks. Elegant curved lines drawn by Tua River are reflecting the faint light that remains visible from the abandoned old village of São Lourenço. Above the horizon, stars from the small constellation of Corvus are visible, while above them, the bright blue star Spica is shinning in Virgo constellation. In the top center, Arcturus from Bootes, is the brightest star visible on the image. Further to the right edge, we can find the open cluster “Melotte 111” in Coma Berenices.
PT: Localizado entre Pombal de Ansiães e o lugar de S. Lourenço, este miradouro, permite-nos desfrutar de uma noite privilegiada sobre o Vale do Tua, uma magnífica paisagem marcada por montanhas repletas de vinhas, oliveiras e sobreiros. Linhas curvas elegantes desenhadas pelo Rio Tua refletem a luz fraca que permanece visível da antiga vila abandonada de São Lourenço. Acima do horizonte, são visíveis as estrelas da pequena constelação Corvus, enquanto acima dela, a brilhante estrela azul Spica destaca-se na constelação da Virgem. Na parte superior central, Arcturus da constelação Bootes, é a estrela mais brilhante visível na imagem. Seguindo para a extremidade direita da imagem, podemos encontrar o enxame aberto “Melotte 111” em Coma Berenices.
Technical details | Detalhes Técnicos
A vertical panorama captured with a Nikon D810a | 24mm at f/2,8 | ISO3200 | Exp. 20 secs.
Beresheet – A Meaning, a Lunar Lander, a Luxury Spot over Ramon Crater in Negev Desert
The image features a startrail captured during the moonlight, with a moon path setting between the suites from Beresheet hotel. Set high on a cliff top with a unique view over Ramon Crater or “Makhtesh Ramon” in Israel’s Negev Desert. Is the world’s largest “erosion cirque” – a landform which are only found in the Negev and its extension into Egypt’s Sinai desert. Beresheet word means “in the beginning” or “at the start” and it is also the name of a SpaceIL’s lunar lander, launched from Cape Canaveral on a used SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Feb. 21, 2019, along with an Indonesian communications satellite and a U.S. Air Force satellite. Over nearly two months, the craft will boost itself into successively longer loops around the planet until reaches the moon. Beresheet carries a time capsule of digital records and an instrument to study the moon’s magnetic field. If the spacecraft touches down safely, it will mark the first moon landing for Israel and the first for a privately funded organisation from anywhere, according do Space.com source..
PT: A imagem mostra um startrail captado durante o luar, onde o rasto lunar se deita por entre as suites do hotel Beresheet. Situado no topo de uma falésia com uma vista única sobre a Cratera Ramon ou “Makhtesh Ramon” no Deserto de Negev, em Israel. É o maior “circo de erosão” do mundo – um relevo que só é encontrado no Negev e na sua extensão até ao deserto do Sinai, no Egipto. Beresheet significa “no começo” ou “no início” e é também o nome de um lander lunar do SpaceIL, lançado a partir de Cabo Canaveral num foguete SpaceX Falcon 9, a 21 de fevereiro de 2019, juntamente com um satélite de comunicações indonésio e um satélite da Força Aérea dos EUA. Durante quase dois meses, a nave se impulsionará em loops sucessivamente mais longos ao redor do planeta até alcançar a lua. Beresheet carrega uma cápsula de registros digitais e um instrumento para estudar o campo magnético da lua. Se a espaço-nave pousar com segurança, marcará o primeiro pouso na Lua para Israel e o primeiro para uma organização privada, de acordo com a fonte Space.com.
Technical details | Detalhes Técnicos
A startrail sequence captured with a Nikon D810a | 14mm at f/8 | ISO250 | Exp. 29 secs.
A Moon Sequence of the Total Lunar Eclipse of 2019
A photo time lapse sequence shows the path of totality during the Total Lunar Eclipse of 2019, on 21th January, as seen from Mina de São Domingos in Dark Sky® Alqueva Mértola, Portugal. During a lunar eclipse, the moon passes through Earth’s shadow, giving the natural satellite a blood-red hue. For being near the closest point to our planet Earth, this Moon was also called a “Super Moon”. The next total lunar eclipse will be in 2021. During a celestial event like that, is incredible to notice huge changes on the reflected light that illuminates the ground. Some stars are also reflected in a small puddle of acid water from Achada do Gamo, that was – since the beginning of modern mining activities in the São Domingos Mine – the center of metallurgical activities on extracted minerals. The areas of heaps, slag and channels of water, give the landscape a “lunar” aspect. The heaps are composed of different materials with high levels of metals, such as slag and ash, whose leaching through the rainwater leads to the production of acid mine drainage, usually with an ocher or reddish color
PT: A imagem mostra uma foto-sequência onde é possível ver o caminho da Lua percorrido durante a fase da totalidade durante o Eclipse Total Lunar ocorrido a 21 de Janeiro de 2019, captado a partir do complexo da Mina de São Domingos, no Dark Sky® Alqueva Mértola, em Portugal. Durante um eclipse lunar, a lua passa pela sombra da Terra, dando ao nosso satélite natural uma tonalidade vermelho-sangue. Por se encontrar no ponto orbital mais próximo da Terra, esta Lua é também apelidada de Super Lua. O próximo Eclipse Total da Lua ocorrerá em 2021. Durante um evento celestial como este, é incrível como se notam grandes mudanças na luz refletida que ilumina o solo. Algumas estrelas reflectem-se também nas águas ácidas da Achada do Gamo, que foi desde o início das atividades modernas de mineração na Mina de São Domingos, o centro das atividades metalúrgicas sobre os minérios extraídos. As áreas de escombreiras, escórias e canais de água, dão à paisagem um aspecto “lunar”. As escombreiras são constituídas por diferentes materiais com teores elevados em metais, como escórias e cinzas, cuja lixiviação através das águas das chuvas leva à produção de águas ácidas (‘acid mine drainage’), geralmente com uma cor ocre ou avermelhada.
A Panoramic Milky Way Above Azenhas do Guadiana
An impressive panoramic view shows the Milky Way rising above the hills from the fluvial beach of Azenhas do Guadiana, in Dark Sky® Alqueva Mértola. While a family of ducks are standing near the water in the center of the picture, two photographers are capturing the wonders of the night sky during a workshop of astrophotography. At the right side of this scenic view, the core of our galaxy is shinning bright and with it, some deep sky objects like the Lagoon Nebula, visible in red-violet immediately above the hill top.
Milky Way, Andromeda and a Dutch Sailboat
Visible below two galaxies, our Great Milky Way that stands bright at the top of this vertical panorama and Andromeda Galaxy, the diffuse elliptic shape shining near the center of the image, is Sem Fim boat. A Westlander sailboat built in 1913 in Holland. This type of boat, was used in the Dutch channels for the transport of goods, among them flowers. It was later transformed into house and bring it to Portugal. Now it navigates in Alqueva lake giving tourists the experience of sailing in the wind on board of a vintage boat. The image was captured during the XII edition of Dark Sky® Party Alqueva, held annually in Campinho, Dark Sky® Alqueva reserve.
Under the Nature Our Roof is the Universe
Being under a starry sky always fascinated me since I was a child. Specially, when I was trying to reach the stars, setting my foots on the floor, just extending my arm while I was feeling and thinking in the fact that there is nothing separating us from outer space. Under the nature our roof is indeed the Universe itself and the most exciting thing, is the knowledge that let us know that we are an important part of it! The image shows a Milky Way rising in the background over Noudar Park, in Alqueva Dark Sky® Reserve, Portugal.
PT: Estar sob um céu estrelado sempre me fascinou desde que eu era criança. Especialmente, quando eu tentava alcançar as estrelas colocando os meus pés no chão, e estendendo o meu braço enquanto sentia e pensava no facto de que não há nada a separar-nos do espaço sideral acima. Sob a natureza, o nosso telhado é de facto o próprio Universo e a coisa mais excitante é o conhecimento que nos deixa saber que somos uma parte importante dele! A imagem mostra uma Via Láctea a nascer em pano de fundo, acima do Parque de Natureza de Noudar, na Reserva Dark Sky® Alqueva, em Portugal.
A Stargazer Shows Where to Find Polaris in the Night Sky
A night scene captured in Achada do Gamo, Dark Sky® Alqueva Mértola, shows the silhouette of a sky enthusiast that is trying to show us where to find Polaris, the Northern Star, and is not so hard. At left side are visible the colorful stars Alkaid, Mizar-Alcor, Alioth, Megrez, Phecda, Merak and Dubhe, the main stars that are composing the constellation of Ursa Major, also known as the Great Bear. Probably is the easiest constellation recognisable in night time and used as a starting point, from beginners to experienced stargazers, to help localize and identify the Northern Star. To find Polaris, use the so-called “Pointer” stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper, Merak and Dubhe. The left hand of the stargazer is pointing to Merak, then just draw an imaginary line between these two stars and extend it out for about 5 times, and you will end up in Polaris, located in the upper right corner of the image.
A Colorful Universe Revealed in the Earth Motion
When we first look at the night sky, we can not distinguish the color of each star with our own eyes, although, if we record in a long exposure sequence the path of each star, due to the motion of rotating Earth and consequently the rotation of celestial sphere, a starry trailed sky can reveal much of our colorful Universe. In the image above, captured in Noudar Park, Alqueva Dark Sky® Reserve, Portugal, we can see a lot of different color paths, like: blue, white, yellow or even orange. Each color is directly related to the type and temperature of each star. The hottest stars, are showing a blue color, but in opposition the coolest, can reveal an orange-reddish color.
In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a prism or diffraction grating into a spectrum exhibiting the rainbow of colors interspersed with absorption lines. Each line indicates an ion of a certain chemical element, with the line strength indicating the abundance of that ion. The relative abundance of the different ions varies with the temperature of the photosphere. The spectral class of a star is a short code summarizing the ionization state, giving an objective measure of the photosphere’s temperature and density.
Most stars are currently classified under the Morgan–Keenan (MK) system using the letters O, B, A, F, G, K, and M, a sequence from the hottest (O type – blue stars) to the coolest (M type – red stars). Each letter class is then subdivided using a numeric digit with 0 being hottest and 9 being coolest (e.g. A8, A9, F0, F1 form a sequence from hotter to cooler). The sequence has been expanded with classes for other stars and star-like objects that do not fit in the classical system, such as class D for white dwarfs and class C for carbon stars.
In the MK system, a luminosity class is added to the spectral class using Roman numerals. This is based on the width of certain absorption lines in the star’s spectrum, which vary with the density of the atmosphere and so distinguish giant stars from dwarfs. Luminosity class 0 or Ia+ stars for hypergiants, class I stars for supergiants, class II for bright giants, class III for regular giants, class IV for sub-giants, class V for main-sequence stars, class sd for sub-dwarfs, and class D for white dwarfs. The full spectral class for the Sun is then G2V, indicating a main-sequence star with a temperature around 5,800 K. Source and more info: click here.
PT: Quando de noite olhamos para o céu não conseguimos percepcionar com os nossos próprios olhos a cor de cada estrela, no entanto, se registarmos numa sequência de longa exposição o rasto de cada estrela, devido ao movimento de rotação da Terra e à consequente rotação da esfera celeste, uma imagem startrail poderá revelar um Universo colorido e rico em informação. Na imagem acima captada no Parque de Natureza de Noudar, Reserva Dark Sky® Alqueva, em Barrancos, podemos ver uma grande diversidade de cores desde o azul, ao amarelo, branco ou laranja. Cada cor está directamente relacionada com o tipo e temperatura de cada estrela. Algumas delas são mais quentes e por isso apresentam uma cor mais azulada, outras por sua vez são mais frias apresentando uma cor mais alaranjada.
A Vortex of Light from the Winter Sky
A fish-eye “full dome” scene captured in Pulo do Lobo, Dark Sky® Alqueva Mértola, shows a starry sky trailed in a long exposure sequence with some bright and colourful light trails from the winter constellations that are surrounding Polaris, the northern star, remembering us that Earth Rotation never stops. In the landscape is visible a dramatic stretch of Guadiana River located about 18 kms north of Mértola, where the Guadiana river bed is reduced to a narrow strait a few meters wide, followed by a small waterfall with about 4m high. The margins on this site are tall and stony, and so tight that they have given rise to a legend that says that a wolf in hunting could transports them in a jump.
PT: Uma visão fish-eye “full-dome” de 180º captada no Pulo do Lobo, Dark Sky® Alqueva Mértola, mostra os rastos de estrelas brilhantes e coloridas das constelações de inverno que circundam a estrela Polar. Em baixo, a paisagem revela o mais dramático trecho do rio Guadiana, situado a cerca de 18 kms a Norte de Mértola, onde o leito do rio Guadiana fica reduzido a um estreito rápido com poucos metros de largura, seguido de uma pequena queda de água com cerca de 4m de altura. As margens neste local apresentam-se altas e pedregosas, e tão apertadas que deram origem a uma lenda que afirma que um lobo em caça as transpõe em um salto.
A Galactic Tree Under the Stars
A path of light illuminates the foreground behind a dead tree that by illusion, seems to be part of the galactic arm of our Milky Way galaxy. This magical and charm scenario under the stars was captured in Noudar Park, Alqueva Dark Sky® Reserve, Barrancos.
PT: Um caminho de luz ilumina o primeiro plano por detrás de uma árvore morta que, por ilusão, parece fazer parte do braço galáctico da nossa Via Láctea. Este cenário mágico e de encanto sob a luz das estrelas foi captado no Parque de Natureza de Noudar, Dark Sky® Alqueva, Barrancos.
A Spring Milky Way Shines above Monsaraz
With the arrival of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere the central region of Milky Way starts to be visible right above the horizon before Dawn, with the certain of getting better and better in the upcoming months, reaching it´s highest visibility to the naked eye in the middle of summer with the core of Milky Way facing south, and being well visible in the beginning of the night from a Dark Sky location. This scene captured in the spring equinox from Monsaraz village, in Dark Sky® Alqueva, shows a green field with small yellow flowers while in the sky, planets Saturn and Mars are shining against the the core of our galaxy, being Mars very close to the Lagoon nebula. In the upper right corner of the image, the bright light that cauth our attention is from the planet Jupiter.
PT: Com a chegada da primavera no Hemisfério Norte, a região central da Via Láctea começa a ficar visível logo acima do horizonte pouco tempo antes do nascer do dia, com a certeza de se encontrar cada vez melhor nos próximos meses, atingindo a sua maior visibilidade a olho nu nos meses de verão, com o núcleo da Via Láctea voltado a sul e sendo bem visível no início da noite a partir de um local escuro. Este cenário celeste captado no equinócio da primavera a partir de Monsaraz, no Dark Sky® Alqueva, mostra um campo verde com pequenas flores amarelas enquanto no céu, os planetas Saturno e Marte brilham contra o núcleo da nossa galáxia, estando Marte muito perto da Nebulosa da Lagoa. No canto superior direito da imagem, a luz brilhante que chama a nossa atenção é do planeta Júpiter.
The Arch of Milky Way Shinning Against the Acid Landscape of Achada do Gamo
The arch of Milky Way galaxy behind a tiny layer of clouds mixed with a smooth presence of green airglow, is shinning above a puddle of acid water from Achada do Gamo, that was – since the beginning of modern mining activities in the São Domingos Mine – the center of metallurgical activities on extracted minerals. Already during the 20th century, between the 30s and 40s, a new direction of industrial exploration took place: the sulfur, however much valued, began to be extracted from the copper pyrites through furnaces (Orkla process) in two plants installed in the Achada do Gamo during the years of 1934 and 1943. Near the left chimney is visible the Andromeda galaxy, seen from here as an elongated diffuse dot.
São Domingos Mine is located in Baixo Alentejo, about 240 km from Lisbon, in the municipality of Mértola, which recently joined the Dark Sky® Alqueva Route for the great quality of the night sky. The São Domingos mining area is part of the Iberian Pyrite Range and is a decisive source of basic metals (S, Zn, Pb, Sn, Ag, Au, Fe, Co, Cd, etc.) and other elements such as sulfur (S). It has been a sought after place for the extraction of ores since antiquity, with evidence of gold, silver and copper mining in the pre-Roman and Roman times. The pyritic deposit of São Domingos (St. Dominic) was explored in various historical periods, namely: for several centuries of the first millennium BC (Eastern period), during the period between 14 BC and 395 AD (Roman period), during the Islamic period and during the modern period that was initiated in 1858 for the extraction of copper, gold and silver and was maintained until 1966, the year in which the reserves were considered exhausted. During this period, the work was done in the open air up to 120 meters deep, with work continued through wells and galleries up to 400 meters. Over 108 years of regular exploration, more than 20 million tons of materials were removed from the site, producing about 14.7 million tons of waste accumulated in heaps up to 14 meters high with a dozen different materials such as pyrite , gossan, slag, ash, iron oxides, barren rock, sludge, debris, etc. The areas of heaps, slag and channels of water, give the landscape a “lunar” aspect. The heaps are composed of different materials with high levels of metals, such as slag and ash, whose leaching through the rainwater leads to the production of acid mine drainage, usually with an ocher or reddish color.|
PT: O arco da Via Láctea ergue-se por detrás de uma fina camada de nuvens que se mistura em pano de fundo com a presença suave de airglow, tornando-se visível acima das águas ácidas da Achada do Gamo, que foi desde o início das atividades modernas de mineração na Mina de São Domingos, o centro das atividades metalúrgicas sobre os minérios extraídos. Já durante o século XX, entre as décadas de 30 e 40, uma nova direção de exploração industrial tomou lugar: o enxofre, entretanto muito valorizado, passou a ser extraído das pirites cupríferas através de fornos (processo Orkla) em duas unidades fabris instaladas na Achada do Gamo durante os anos de 1934 e 1943. Logo acima do horizonte esquerdo, e perto da primeira chaminé, é visível a galáxia de Andrómeda, vista a partir daqui como um ponto difuso alongado.
A Mina de São Domingos, situa-se no Baixo Alentejo, a cerca de 240 km de Lisboa, no concelho de Mértola, que passou a integrar recentemente a Rota Dark Sky® Alqueva pela grande qualidade do seu céu escuro. A área mineira de São Domingos, está inserida na Faixa Piritosa Ibérica e constitui uma fonte decisiva de metais básicos (Cu, Zn, Pb, Sn, Ag, Au, Fe, Co, Cd, etc.) e de outros elementos como o enxofre (S). Foi desde a Antiguidade um local procurado para a extracção de minérios, existindo indícios de trabalhos de extracção de ouro, prata e cobre no período pré-romano e romano. O depósito pirítico de São Domingos foi explorado em diversos períodos históricos, nomeadamente: durante vários séculos do primeiro milénio a.C. (período Oriental), durante o período que mediou entre o ano 14 a.C. e o ano de 395 d.C. (período romano), durante o período islâmico e durante o período moderno que se iniciou em 1858 para a extracção de cobre, ouro e prata e manteve-se até 1966, ano em que as reservas foram consideradas esgotadas. Neste período, a lavra foi feita a céu aberto até aos 120 metros de profundidade, tendo os trabalhos continuado por meio de poços e galerias até aos 400 metros. Ao longo de 108 anos de exploração regular, foram retirados do local mais de 20 milhões de toneladas de materiais, tendo produzido cerca 14,7 milhões de toneladas de resíduos acumulados em escombreiras de até 14 metros de altura, com uma dezena de materiais diferentes como pirite, gossan, escórias, cinzas, óxidos de ferro, rocha estéril, lamas, entulhos, etc. As áreas de escombreiras, escórias e canais de água, dão à paisagem um aspecto “lunar”. As escombreiras são constituídas por diferentes materiais com teores elevados em metais, como escórias e cinzas, cuja lixiviação através das águas das chuvas leva à produção de águas ácidas (‘acid mine drainage’), geralmente com uma cor ocre ou avermelhada.
Summer Triangle and Planet Saturn Shinning above Achada do Gamo
A view of the Milky Way arm with planet Saturn shinning against the galaxy core, near Scorpius constellation. In the top right corner of the image, a pink/red emission from North America Nebula (NGC7000) is well visible near Deneb star, forming a perfect triangle with the blue star Vega (top center) and Altair star (left center). This mosaic of the Milky Way was captured above a puddle of acid water from Achada do Gamo, that was – since the beginning of modern mining activities in the São Domingos Mine – the center of metallurgical activities on extracted minerals. Already during the 20th century, between the 30s and 40s, a new direction of industrial exploration took place: the sulfur, however much valued, began to be extracted from the copper pyrites through furnaces (Orkla process) in two plants installed in the Achada do Gamo during the years of 1934 and 1943.
São Domingos Mine is located in Baixo Alentejo, about 240 km from Lisbon, in the municipality of Mértola, which recently joined the Dark Sky® Alqueva Route for the great quality of the night sky. The São Domingos mining area is part of the Iberian Pyrite Range and is a decisive source of basic metals (S, Zn, Pb, Sn, Ag, Au, Fe, Co, Cd, etc.) and other elements such as sulfur (S). It has been a sought after place for the extraction of ores since antiquity, with evidence of gold, silver and copper mining in the pre-Roman and Roman times. The pyritic deposit of São Domingos (St. Dominic) was explored in various historical periods, namely: for several centuries of the first millennium BC (Eastern period), during the period between 14 BC and 395 AD (Roman period), during the Islamic period and during the modern period that was initiated in 1858 for the extraction of copper, gold and silver and was maintained until 1966, the year in which the reserves were considered exhausted. During this period, the work was done in the open air up to 120 meters deep, with work continued through wells and galleries up to 400 meters. Over 108 years of regular exploration, more than 20 million tons of materials were removed from the site, producing about 14.7 million tons of waste accumulated in heaps up to 14 meters high with a dozen different materials such as pyrite , gossan, slag, ash, iron oxides, barren rock, sludge, debris, etc. The areas of heaps, slag and channels of water, give the landscape a “lunar” aspect. The heaps are composed of different materials with high levels of metals, such as slag and ash, whose leaching through the rainwater leads to the production of acid mine drainage, usually with an ocher or reddish color.|
PT: Uma visão do braço da Via Láctea com o planeta Saturno brilhando contra o centro da galáxia, perto da constelação do Escorpião. No canto superior direito da imagem, uma emissão rosa/vermelha proveniente da Nebulosa América do Norte (NGC7000) é bem visível perto da estrela Deneb, formando um triângulo perfeito com a estrela azul Vega (centro superior) e a estrela Altair (centro esquerdo). Este mosaico da Via Láctea foi captado acima das águas ácidas da Achada do Gamo, que foi desde o início das atividades modernas de mineração na Mina de São Domingos, o centro das atividades metalúrgicas sobre os minérios extraídos. Já durante o século XX, entre as décadas de 30 e 40, uma nova direção de exploração industrial tomou lugar: o enxofre, entretanto muito valorizado, passou a ser extraído das pirites cupríferas através de fornos (processo Orkla) em duas unidades fabris instaladas na Achada do Gamo durante os anos de 1934 e 1943.
A Mina de São Domingos, situa-se no Baixo Alentejo, a cerca de 240 km de Lisboa, no concelho de Mértola, que passou a integrar recentemente a Rota Dark Sky® Alqueva pela grande qualidade do seu céu escuro. A área mineira de São Domingos, está inserida na Faixa Piritosa Ibérica e constitui uma fonte decisiva de metais básicos (Cu, Zn, Pb, Sn, Ag, Au, Fe, Co, Cd, etc.) e de outros elementos como o enxofre (S). Foi desde a Antiguidade um local procurado para a extracção de minérios, existindo indícios de trabalhos de extracção de ouro, prata e cobre no período pré-romano e romano. O depósito pirítico de São Domingos foi explorado em diversos períodos históricos, nomeadamente: durante vários séculos do primeiro milénio a.C. (período Oriental), durante o período que mediou entre o ano 14 a.C. e o ano de 395 d.C. (período romano), durante o período islâmico e durante o período moderno que se iniciou em 1858 para a extracção de cobre, ouro e prata e manteve-se até 1966, ano em que as reservas foram consideradas esgotadas. Neste período, a lavra foi feita a céu aberto até aos 120 metros de profundidade, tendo os trabalhos continuado por meio de poços e galerias até aos 400 metros. Ao longo de 108 anos de exploração regular, foram retirados do local mais de 20 milhões de toneladas de materiais, tendo produzido cerca 14,7 milhões de toneladas de resíduos acumulados em escombreiras de até 14 metros de altura, com uma dezena de materiais diferentes como pirite, gossan, escórias, cinzas, óxidos de ferro, rocha estéril, lamas, entulhos, etc. As áreas de escombreiras, escórias e canais de água, dão à paisagem um aspecto “lunar”. As escombreiras são constituídas por diferentes materiais com teores elevados em metais, como escórias e cinzas, cuja lixiviação através das águas das chuvas leva à produção de águas ácidas (‘acid mine drainage’), geralmente com uma cor ocre ou avermelhada.
Moonlight and Jupiter Shinning above Corta da Mina Landscape
A Moonlight scene in a cloudy sky with bright planet Jupiter shinning above Corta da Mina landscape, that is the result of the open-pit mining operation begun in 1867 in São Domingos Mine. It has a geometrical shape of an ellipse and a depth of 120 m and a perimeter of approximately 2 km. It was the place from which the ores were extracted: the pyrites, sulfur, copper, iron, zinc, gold and silver. Around the cavity it is possible to observe several types of heaps constituted by diverse materials such as modern slag of black color, brownish Roman slag, gossan fragments of reddish color and encasing mineralization rocks like vulcanites and schists. Some of these commons have significant gold contents assuming the presence of iMt from heaps with 1g / t gold. ” After the end of the work, in 1966, the abandonment of the extraction of water from the bottom of the mine allowed the rise groundwater level within the cut to the current, apparently stationary point. The water currently contained in the cut is extremely acidic (Ph = 2) giving the water an incredible color variation with colours ranging from reddish tones to oranges and yellows, it contains a large amount of dissolved sulfates, mainly iron and arsenic sulfates, but also copper and zinc.
São Domingos Mine is located in Baixo Alentejo, about 240 km from Lisbon, in the municipality of Mértola, which recently joined the Dark Sky® Alqueva Route for the great quality of the night sky. The São Domingos mining area is part of the Iberian Pyrite Range and is a decisive source of basic metals (S, Zn, Pb, Sn, Ag, Au, Fe, Co, Cd, etc.) and other elements such as sulfur (S). It has been a sought after place for the extraction of ores since antiquity, with evidence of gold, silver and copper mining in the pre-Roman and Roman times. The pyritic deposit of São Domingos (St. Dominic) was explored in various historical periods, namely: for several centuries of the first millennium BC (Eastern period), during the period between 14 BC and 395 AD (Roman period), during the Islamic period and during the modern period that was initiated in 1858 for the extraction of copper, gold and silver and was maintained until 1966, the year in which the reserves were considered exhausted. During this period, the work was done in the open air up to 120 meters deep, with work continued through wells and galleries up to 400 meters. Over 108 years of regular exploration, more than 20 million tons of materials were removed from the site, producing about 14.7 million tons of waste accumulated in heaps up to 14 meters high with a dozen different materials such as pyrite , gossan, slag, ash, iron oxides, barren rock, sludge, debris, etc. The areas of heaps, slag and channels of water, give the landscape a “lunar” aspect. The heaps are composed of different materials with high levels of metals, such as slag and ash, whose leaching through the rainwater leads to the production of acid mine drainage, usually with an ocher or reddish color. |
PT: Um cenário ao Luar com a presença do planeta Jupiter a brilhar por detrás de um céu nublado que se precipita acima da paisagem acida da Corta da Mina, o resultado da exploração mineira a céu aberto encetada em 1867 na Mina de São Domingos, em Mértola. Possui uma forma geométrica de uma elipse e uma profundidade de 120 m e um perímetro de aproximadamente 2 km. Era o local de onde se extraíam os minérios: as pirites, enxofre, cobre, ferro, zinco, ouro e prata. Em torno da cavidade é possível observar vários tipos de escombreiras constituídas por materiais diversos como escórias modernas de cor negra, escórias romanas acastanhadas, fragmentos de gossan de cor avermelhada e rochas encaixantes da mineralização como vulcanitos e xistos. Alguns destes corpos de encombros apresentam teores significativos de ouro admitindo-se a presença de iMt de escombreiras com 1g/t de ouro.” Após o fim da laboração, em 1966, o abandono da extração de água do fundo da mina permitiu a subida do nível freático dentro da corta até ao ponto atual, aparentemente estacionário.
A água hoje contida na corta é extremamente ácida (Ph=2) conferindo à água uma variação cromática incrível com cores que vão desde tons avermelhados, a laranjas e amarelos, contém uma grande quantidade de sulfatos dissolvidos, principalmente sulfatos de ferro e arsénico mas também de cobre e zinco
A Mina de São Domingos, situa-se no Baixo Alentejo, a cerca de 240 km de Lisboa, no concelho de Mértola, que passou a integrar recentemente a Rota Dark Sky® Alqueva pela grande qualidade do seu céu escuro. A área mineira de São Domingos, está inserida na Faixa Piritosa Ibérica e constitui uma fonte decisiva de metais básicos (Cu, Zn, Pb, Sn, Ag, Au, Fe, Co, Cd, etc.) e de outros elementos como o enxofre (S). Foi desde a Antiguidade um local procurado para a extracção de minérios, existindo indícios de trabalhos de extracção de ouro, prata e cobre no período pré-romano e romano. O depósito pirítico de São Domingos foi explorado em diversos períodos históricos, nomeadamente: durante vários séculos do primeiro milénio a.C. (período Oriental), durante o período que mediou entre o ano 14 a.C. e o ano de 395 d.C. (período romano), durante o período islâmico e durante o período moderno que se iniciou em 1858 para a extracção de cobre, ouro e prata e manteve-se até 1966, ano em que as reservas foram consideradas esgotadas. Neste período, a lavra foi feita a céu aberto até aos 120 metros de profundidade, tendo os trabalhos continuado por meio de poços e galerias até aos 400 metros. Ao longo de 108 anos de exploração regular, foram retirados do local mais de 20 milhões de toneladas de materiais, tendo produzido cerca 14,7 milhões de toneladas de resíduos acumulados em escombreiras de até 14 metros de altura, com uma dezena de materiais diferentes como pirite, gossan, escórias, cinzas, óxidos de ferro, rocha estéril, lamas, entulhos, etc. As áreas de escombreiras, escórias e canais de água, dão à paisagem um aspecto “lunar”. As escombreiras são constituídas por diferentes materiais com teores elevados em metais, como escórias e cinzas, cuja lixiviação através das águas das chuvas leva à produção de águas ácidas (‘acid mine drainage’), geralmente com uma cor ocre ou avermelhada.
Full Moon Emerging from an Acid Landscape
A Full Moon is reflected in a puddle of acid water from Achada do Gamo, that was – since the beginning of modern mining activities in the São Domingos Mine – the center of metallurgical activities on extracted minerals. The areas of heaps, slag and channels of water, give the landscape a “lunar” aspect, revealed in this image naturally illuminated by the Moonlight. The heaps are composed of different materials with high levels of metals, such as slag and ash, whose leaching through the rainwater leads to the production of acid mine drainage, usually with an ocher or reddish color.
São Domingos Mine is located in Baixo Alentejo, about 240 km from Lisbon, in the municipality of Mértola, which recently joined the Dark Sky® Alqueva Route for the great quality of the night sky. The São Domingos mining area is part of the Iberian Pyrite Range and is a decisive source of basic metals (S, Zn, Pb, Sn, Ag, Au, Fe, Co, Cd, etc.) and other elements such as sulfur (S). It has been a sought after place for the extraction of ores since antiquity, with evidence of gold, silver and copper mining in the pre-Roman and Roman times. The pyritic deposit of São Domingos (St. Dominic) was explored in various historical periods, namely: for several centuries of the first millennium BC (Eastern period), during the period between 14 BC and 395 AD (Roman period), during the Islamic period and during the modern period that was initiated in 1858 for the extraction of copper, gold and silver and was maintained until 1966, the year in which the reserves were considered exhausted. During this period, the work was done in the open air up to 120 meters deep, with work continued through wells and galleries up to 400 meters. Over 108 years of regular exploration, more than 20 million tons of materials were removed from the site, producing about 14.7 million tons of waste accumulated in heaps up to 14 meters high with a dozen different materials such as pyrite , gossan, slag, ash, iron oxides, barren rock, sludge, debris, etc.|
PT: A Lua Cheia reflectida nas águas ácidas da Achada do Gamo, que foi desde o início das atividades modernas de mineração na Mina de São Domingos, o centro das atividades metalúrgicas sobre os minérios extraídos. As áreas de escombreiras, escórias e canais de água, dão à paisagem um aspecto “lunar”, revelado nesta imagem nocturna pela luz natural do luar. As escombreiras são constituídas por diferentes materiais com teores elevados em metais, como escórias e cinzas, cuja lixiviação através das águas das chuvas leva à produção de águas ácidas (‘acid mine drainage’), geralmente com uma cor ocre ou avermelhada.
A Mina de São Domingos, situa-se no Baixo Alentejo, a cerca de 240 km de Lisboa, no concelho de Mértola, que passou a integrar recentemente a Rota Dark Sky® Alqueva pela grande qualidade do seu céu escuro. A área mineira de São Domingos, está inserida na Faixa Piritosa Ibérica e constitui uma fonte decisiva de metais básicos (Cu, Zn, Pb, Sn, Ag, Au, Fe, Co, Cd, etc.) e de outros elementos como o enxofre (S). Foi desde a Antiguidade um local procurado para a extracção de minérios, existindo indícios de trabalhos de extracção de ouro, prata e cobre no período pré-romano e romano. O depósito pirítico de São Domingos foi explorado em diversos períodos históricos, nomeadamente: durante vários séculos do primeiro milénio a.C. (período Oriental), durante o período que mediou entre o ano 14 a.C. e o ano de 395 d.C. (período romano), durante o período islâmico e durante o período moderno que se iniciou em 1858 para a extracção de cobre, ouro e prata e manteve-se até 1966, ano em que as reservas foram consideradas esgotadas. Neste período, a lavra foi feita a céu aberto até aos 120 metros de profundidade, tendo os trabalhos continuado por meio de poços e galerias até aos 400 metros. Ao longo de 108 anos de exploração regular, foram retirados do local mais de 20 milhões de toneladas de materiais, tendo produzido cerca 14,7 milhões de toneladas de resíduos acumulados em escombreiras de até 14 metros de altura, com uma dezena de materiais diferentes como pirite, gossan, escórias, cinzas, óxidos de ferro, rocha estéril, lamas, entulhos, etc.
Full Moon Behind a Metallurgic Silhouette from Achada do Gamo
The Full Moon is rising against the silhouette structure from Achada do Gamo, that was – since the beginning of modern mining activities in the São Domingos Mine – the center of metallurgical activities on extracted minerals. Already during the 20th century, between the 30s and 40s, a new direction of industrial exploration took place: the sulfur, however much valued, began to be extracted from the copper pyrites through furnaces (Orkla process) in two plants installed in the Achada do Gamo during the years of 1934 and 1943.
São Domingos Mine is located in Baixo Alentejo, about 240 km from Lisbon, in the municipality of Mértola, which recently joined the Dark Sky® Alqueva Route for the great quality of the night sky. The São Domingos mining area is part of the Iberian Pyrite Range and is a decisive source of basic metals (S, Zn, Pb, Sn, Ag, Au, Fe, Co, Cd, etc.) and other elements such as sulfur (S). It has been a sought after place for the extraction of ores since antiquity, with evidence of gold, silver and copper mining in the pre-Roman and Roman times. The pyritic deposit of São Domingos (St. Dominic) was explored in various historical periods, namely: for several centuries of the first millennium BC (Eastern period), during the period between 14 BC and 395 AD (Roman period), during the Islamic period and during the modern period that was initiated in 1858 for the extraction of copper, gold and silver and was maintained until 1966, the year in which the reserves were considered exhausted. During this period, the work was done in the open air up to 120 meters deep, with work continued through wells and galleries up to 400 meters. Over 108 years of regular exploration, more than 20 million tons of materials were removed from the site, producing about 14.7 million tons of waste accumulated in heaps up to 14 meters high with a dozen different materials such as pyrite , gossan, slag, ash, iron oxides, barren rock, sludge, debris, etc. The areas of heaps, slag and channels of water, give the landscape a “lunar” aspect. The heaps are composed of different materials with high levels of metals, such as slag and ash, whose leaching through the rainwater leads to the production of acid mine drainage, usually with an ocher or reddish color. |
PT: A Lua Cheia nasce por detrás da silhueta da estrutura metalúrgica da Achada do Gamo, que foi desde o início das atividades modernas de mineração na Mina de São Domingos, o centro das atividades metalúrgicas sobre os minérios extraídos. Já durante o século XX, entre as décadas de 30 e 40, uma nova direção de exploração industrial tomou lugar: o enxofre, entretanto muito valorizado, passou a ser extraído das pirites cupríferas através de fornos (processo Orkla) em duas unidades fabris instaladas na Achada do Gamo durante os anos de 1934 e 1943.
A Mina de São Domingos, situa-se no Baixo Alentejo, a cerca de 240 km de Lisboa, no concelho de Mértola, que passou a integrar recentemente a Rota Dark Sky® Alqueva pela grande qualidade do seu céu escuro. A área mineira de São Domingos, está inserida na Faixa Piritosa Ibérica e constitui uma fonte decisiva de metais básicos (Cu, Zn, Pb, Sn, Ag, Au, Fe, Co, Cd, etc.) e de outros elementos como o enxofre (S). Foi desde a Antiguidade um local procurado para a extracção de minérios, existindo indícios de trabalhos de extracção de ouro, prata e cobre no período pré-romano e romano. O depósito pirítico de São Domingos foi explorado em diversos períodos históricos, nomeadamente: durante vários séculos do primeiro milénio a.C. (período Oriental), durante o período que mediou entre o ano 14 a.C. e o ano de 395 d.C. (período romano), durante o período islâmico e durante o período moderno que se iniciou em 1858 para a extracção de cobre, ouro e prata e manteve-se até 1966, ano em que as reservas foram consideradas esgotadas. Neste período, a lavra foi feita a céu aberto até aos 120 metros de profundidade, tendo os trabalhos continuado por meio de poços e galerias até aos 400 metros. Ao longo de 108 anos de exploração regular, foram retirados do local mais de 20 milhões de toneladas de materiais, tendo produzido cerca 14,7 milhões de toneladas de resíduos acumulados em escombreiras de até 14 metros de altura, com uma dezena de materiais diferentes como pirite, gossan, escórias, cinzas, óxidos de ferro, rocha estéril, lamas, entulhos, etc. As áreas de escombreiras, escórias e canais de água, dão à paisagem um aspecto “lunar”. As escombreiras são constituídas por diferentes materiais com teores elevados em metais, como escórias e cinzas, cuja lixiviação através das águas das chuvas leva à produção de águas ácidas (‘acid mine drainage’), geralmente com uma cor ocre ou avermelhada.
A Bright Meteor from Geminid above Monsaraz
As the Earth was passing through a stream of gravelly debris from “rock comet” 3200 Phaethon, I´ve captured a bright meteor above Monsaraz, Dark Sky® Alqueva reserve, in the night before the expected peak of annual Geminid meteor shower.
PT: À medida que a Terra passava pela rota de detritos deixados para trás pelo “cometa rochoso” 3200 Phaethon, foi possível captar um meteoro brilhante acima de Monsaraz, Reserva Dark Sky® Alqueva, na noite anterior ao pico esperado da chuva anual de meteoros Gemínidas.
Milky Way – A lost Candle in the Desert of Death Valley
Zabriskie Point is a part of Amargosa Range located east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park, in California, United States, noted for its erosional landscape. It is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 million years ago—long before Death Valley came into existence. The hottest air temperature ever recorded in Death Valley was 134 °F (56.7 °C) on July 10, 1913, at Furnace Creek, which is the hottest atmospheric temperature ever recorded on earth.During the heat wave that peaked with that record, five consecutive days reached 129 °F (54 °C) or above. In the center of the image, the core of Milky Way is shinning so bright, that creates the illusion like if it was enough to illuminate the right top of the mountain range from Zabriskie point. Although, the mountain was actually and momently illuminated by a car light that was passing by.
Milky Way from Zabriskie Point in Death Valley
Zabriskie Point is a part of Amargosa Range located east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park in California, United States, noted for its erosional landscape. It is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 million years ago—long before Death Valley came into existence. The hottest air temperature ever recorded in Death Valley was 134 °F (56.7 °C) on July 10, 1913, at Furnace Creek, which is the hottest atmospheric temperature ever recorded on earth.During the heat wave that peaked with that record, five consecutive days reached 129 °F (54 °C) or above. In the night that this panoramic scene was captured above Badlands from Zabriskie point, the air temperature near midnight was 41ºc.
The Arch of Milky Way was high in the Sky in that time of the year, making very difficult to capture this perfect “half of circle” touching the Zenith, where we can see in the top center, a blue bright star with an apparent magnitude of 0,0 called Vega, serving as a middle reference in the magnitude system chart created for the first time in 150 B.C.E, by the greek astronomer Hipparchus. Vega, from Lyra constellation, is forming an asterism well know as the “Summer Triangle” with stars Deneb (from Cygnus) and Altair (from Aquila). At the left side – in the beginning of the Milky Way – a bright elliptic and diffuse dot is the light coming from Andromeda Galaxy while in the opposite direction of the sky – right edge of the picture – the orange supergiant star of Antares, from Scorpius constellations, is setting below the hot horizon of Death Valley´s landscape. In the center right, and below the arch, is also visible a faint white light known as Gegenschein. It´s a faint brightening of the night sky in the region of the antisolar point. like the zodiacal light, the gegenschein is sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust.
Milky Way and a Reddish Moon Behind the Smoke of Fire in Yosemite
First protected in 1864, Yosemite National Park is best known for its waterfalls, but within its nearly 1,200 square miles, it´s full of beauty with deep valleys, grand meadows, ancient giant sequoias, and a vast wilderness area where the animals are living in harmony with the strength of granite, the power of glaciers, and the tranquility of the High Sierra, that shows the persistence of life even with the large and strong fires that seems to threaten all this area each summer.
A blaze in Yosemite National Park have create smoky skies. The South Fork Fire, started about a mile east of Wawona grew to more than 5,100 acres, while to the north, near Glacier Point Road, the Empire Fire, started by a lightning, and grew to more than 2,300 acres. In the park, areas like Yosemite Valley, Half Dome, and El Capitan have remained smoky for days. Due to this effect, we can see on the image taken in the Yosemite Valley, a reddish moon behind the smoke while at left side, the Milky Way is trying to shine. There are hints of red and brown but also blues in the clouds. Smoke particles are much smaller than the wavelengths of sunlight and scatter blue light much more strongly than red (Rayleigh scattering). The blues of the rays are strengthened whereas the clouds seen by transmission through shadowed smoky air have their light reddened because the blues are more strongly scattered from the direct beam.
Respecting the Night Sky – Milky Way above Cumeada Observatory, Dark Sky Alqueva
Cumeada, in Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal, is a small village where is located the headquarter of Dark Sky® Alqueva Reserve, the First Starlight Tourism Destination in the World. The recovered building is an old primary school rehabilitated by the Municipality of Reguengos to receive the official Observatory of Dark Sky® Alqueva. All the public lights from the entire village were changed to LED and the position of incident light, directed to the ground, as we can see in the image. An effort between the main power supplier company operating in Portugal (EDP), the Municipality and the Dark Sky® Alqueva, to respect the night sky and all the surrounding needs. Whenever the Observatory is operating, the light flux from the entire village can be reduced from 100% to 10% only, using a smartphone app, so even with the street lights On and set to 10%, we can clearly distinguish the Milky Way arch, the street itself, the roads and surrounding area, so people can feel secure at the same time. This procedure had a huge impact in the night sky quality that is constantly monitored with a Sky Quality Meter registering an average measurement of SQM: 21.45 mag/arcsec^2.
PT: A Cumeada, em Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal, é uma pequena vila onde está localizada a sede da Dark Sky® Alqueva, o Primeiro Destino Turístico do Mundo certificado pela Fundação Starlight. O edifício recuperado é uma antiga escola primária do Estado Novo reabilitada pelo Município de Reguengos para receber o Observatório oficial do Dark Sky® Alqueva. As luzes públicas de toda a vila foram alteradas para LED e a posição da luz incidente, direcionada para o chão, como é possível ver na imagem captada numa noite húmida e fria, permitindo registar esse ângulo de incidência da luz. Um esforço conjunto entre a EDP, o Município e a Reserva Dark Sky® Alqueva, para respeitar o céu noturno e todas as necessidades circundantes. Sempre que o Observatório está operando, o fluxo de luz de toda a vila pode ser reduzido de 100% para 10% apenas, usando um aplicativo para smartphone. Deste modo, mesmo com as luzes da rua acesas e reduzidas para 10%, é possível distinguir claramente o braço arqueado da Via Láctea no céu, assim como a rua, as estradas e área circundante, para que as pessoas também se possam sentir simultaneamente seguras. Este procedimento teve um enorme impacto na qualidade do céu noturno da região da sede, que é constantemente monitorizado com um Medidor da Qualidade do Céu (SQM) registando uma medida média de SQM: 21,45 mag/arcsec^2.
The Transition between Day and Night
This lovely skyscape scene shows the end of nautical twilight above Roque de Los Muchachos observatory, and the transition between the end of the day and the beginning of the night. Each twilight phase is defined by the solar elevation angle, which is the position of the Sun in relation to the horizon. During nautical twilight, the geometric center of the Sun’s disk is between 6 and 12 degrees below the horizon. In clear weather conditions, the horizon is faintly visible during this twilight phase. Many of the brighter stars can also be seen, making it possible to use the position of the stars in relation to the horizon to navigate at sea. This is why it is called nautical twilight. Although, if we had to this ingredients the perfect position and time of the year to watch the central region of the Milky Way as soon as the sky stays dark, we can capture beyond the brightest stars the dusty core of the galaxy with very natural colours mixed yet with the background light coming from the transition of the Nautical Twilight to the Astronomical Twilight, when the Sun is even low then 12º below the horizon. In the foreground are spread different night and solar observatories from Roque de Los Mucahchos, one of them is William Herschel Telescope, that can be seen in the right edge of the image with the dome opened while it´s laser is pointed high up in the sky.
PT: Esta linda cena “skyscape” mostra o final do Crepúsculo Náutico acima do observatório Roque de Los Muchachos, e a transição entre o final do dia e o início da noite. Cada fase crepuscular é definida pelo ângulo de elevação solar, que é a posição do Sol em relação ao horizonte. Durante o Crepúsculo Náutico, o centro geométrico do disco do Sol está entre 6 e 12 graus abaixo do horizonte. Em condições climáticas claras, o horizonte é visível durante esta fase crepuscular. Muitas das estrelas mais brilhantes também podem ser vistas, tornando possível usar a posição das estrelas em relação ao horizonte para navegar no mar. É por isso que é chamado Crepúsculo Náutico. No entanto, se a estes ingredientes juntarmos a posição e época do ano perfeita para observar a região central da Via Láctea logo que o céu escureça, podemos captar além das estrelas mais brilhantes o núcleo empoeirado da galáxia com cores muito naturais, misturadas ainda com a luz de fundo proveniente da transição do Crepúsculo Náutico para o Crepúsculo Astronómico, quando o Sol está mais de 12º abaixo do horizonte. No primeiro plano, estão espalhados diferentes observatórios noturnos e solares do Roque de Los Mucahchos, um deles é o Telescópio William Herschel, que pode ser visto na extremidade direita da imagem com a cúpula aberta enquanto o laser é apontado para o alto do céu.
Bright Meteor and Planet Jupiter above Alqueva
In this winter scene of a cloudy night, a bright and fast meteor have crossed the sky near Arcturus while at the right side planet Jupiter were shinning near the blue star Spica. Below, in the small lagoon from the rural hotel Naveterra, in Alandroal, northern part of Dark Sky® Alqueva Reserve, two horses were spotted near the water that is reflecting the greenish color of the sky.
Alqueva Paradise and the Winter Sky
This paradise night scene of the winter sky above the lake of Campinho village, Alqueva Dark Sky® Reserve, shows, above, star clusters and diffuse red/violet colors shinning from deep space objects like Orion and other emission nebulae spread in the celestial sphere. In the center left of the image, we can see a rare and faint white light known as Gegenschein, a faint brightening of the night sky in the region of the antisolar point. like the zodiacal light, the gegenschein is sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust. Most of this dust is orbiting the Sun in about the ecliptic plane. It is distinguished from zodiacal light by its high angle of reflection of the incident sunlight on the dust particles.
PT: Esta linda cena noturna do céu de inverno que se ergue acima do lago da vila do Campinho, Reserva Dark Sky® Alqueva, mostra-nos aglomerados de estrelas e cores difusas vermelho/violeta brilhando intensamente espalhadas pelo céu de inverno, provenientes de nebulosas de emissão e objectos de céu profundo como Orion. No centro esquerdo da imagem, podemos ver uma luz branca rara e fraca conhecida como Gegenschein, que é um ligeiro brilho do céu noturno na região do ponto antisolar. Como a luz zodiacal, o gegenschein é a luz solar dispersa pela poeira interplanetária. A maior parte dessa poeira está orbitando o Sol em torno do plano eclíptico. Distingue-se da luz zodiacal pelo seu alto ângulo de reflexão da luz solar incidente sobre as partículas de poeira.
Gegenschein Against the Winter Deep Sky
This lovely night scene of the winter sky above the lake of Campinho village, Alqueva Dark Sky® Reserve, shows high above, star clusters and diffuse red/violet colors shinning from deep sky objects like California, Rosette, Barnard´s Loop, Horse Head, Orion and other emission nebulae spread in the winter sky. At left in center of the image, we can see a rare and faint white light known as Gegenschein, that is a faint brightening of the night sky in the region of the antisolar point. like the zodiacal light, the gegenschein is sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust. Most of this dust is orbiting the Sun in about the ecliptic plane. It is distinguished from zodiacal light by its high angle of reflection of the incident sunlight on the dust particles. Below some bands of red airglow are also visible.
PT: Esta linda cena noturna do céu de inverno que se ergue acima do lago da vila do Campinho, Reserva Dark Sky® Alqueva, mostra-nos aglomerados de estrelas e cores difusas vermelho/violeta brilhando intensamente espalhadas pelo céu de inverno. California, Rosette, Barnard´s Loop, Horse Head e Orion, são algumas das imensas nebulosas de emissão visíveis nesta época do ano. À esquerda no centro da imagem, podemos ver uma luz branca rara e fraca conhecida como Gegenschein, que é um ligeiro brilho do céu noturno na região do ponto antisolar. Como a luz zodiacal, o gegenschein é a luz solar dispersa pela poeira interplanetária. A maior parte dessa poeira está orbitando o Sol em torno do plano eclíptico. Distingue-se da luz zodiacal pelo seu alto ângulo de reflexão da luz solar incidente sobre as partículas de poeira. Abaixo, são ainda visíveis algumas faixas de airglow vermelho.
A Bridge to Andromeda Galaxy
In this lovely night scene of the winter sky we can see a small bridge from Campinho region, Alqueva Dark Sky® Reserve that seems to indicate the path to Andromeda Galaxy which is visible just above the horizon in the center of the picture. High above, star clusters and diffuse red/violet colors are shinning and spread in the winter sky, coming from deep sky objects like Orion, California, Rosette, Barnard´s Loop, Heart & Soul and other emission nebulae. At left in the direction of Pleiades, a faint white light is visible and known as the Zodiacal Light.
PT: Nesta cena de céu noturno do inverno, podemos ver uma pequena ponte da região do Campinho, na Reserva Dark Sky® Alqueva, que parece indicar o caminho para a Galáxia de Andrómeda, que é visível logo acima do horizonte no centro da fotografia. No alto, aglomerados de estrelas e cores difusas vermelho/violeta brilham intensamente espalhadas pelo céu de inverno. Orion, California, Rosette, Barnard´s Loop, Heart & Soul nebula, são algumas das imensas nebulosas de emissão visíveis nesta época do ano. À esquerda, na direção das Pleiades, uma fraca luz branca é visível e conhecida como a Luz Zodiacal.
A Christmas tree adorned with stars
This could be a Christmas tree from Alentejo adorned with stars…the luminous and colorful balls that sprinkle with magic the sky of the Dark Sky® Alqueva. In the center of this composition captured in Campinho, Reguengos de Monsaraz, the silhouetted branches embrace the most beautiful and well-known winter constellation, Orion. Just below them, the bright and shimmering star Sirius reminds us of the star of Bethlehem.
Above we can see a comparison between the wide field image at left, where we can spot the entire constellation of Orion in the winter sky, with the small angle of about (2.25ºx 1.37º) where it fits the beautiful Dusty Heart of Orion Nebula (at right). The full resolution of Orion Nebula can be seen here.
PT: Esta poderia ser uma árvore de Natal alentejana, adornada de estrelas… as bolas luminosas e coloridas que salpicam de magia o céu do Dark Sky® Alqueva. No centro desta composição captada no Campinho, em Reguengos de Monsaraz, os ramos em silhueta abraçam a mais bela e conhecida constelação de Inverno, Orion. Logo abaixo destes, a estrela Sírius luminosa e cintilante faz-nos lembrar a estrela de Belém!
Working Under the Stars After a Deep Sky Session
After a night of work under the starry sky of Mourão, in Alqueva Dark Sky® Reserve, a self portrait shows all the equipment necessary for a deep sky session with two different telescopes controlled by a laptop.
PT: Depois de uma noite de trabalho sob o céu estrelado de Mourão, na Reserva Dark Sky® Alqueva, um auto-retrato mostra todo o equipamento necessário para uma sessão de céu profundo com dois telescópios diferentes controlados por um computador portátil.
Zodiacal light in the glacial valley of Glendalough
Zodiacal light and planet Venus in the forest of Glendalough. Meaning “Valley of two lakes”, is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. It combines extensive monastic ruins with a stunning natural setting in the Wicklow Mountains. The beauty and tranquility of the lakes and glacial-carved valley no doubt appealed to St Kevin, a hermit monk, who founded the monastic site near the Lower Lake in the 6th Century. Most of the buildings that survive today date from the 10th through 12th centuries. Despite attacks by Vikings over the years, Glendalough thrived as one of Irelands great ecclesiastical foundations and schools of learning until the Normans destroyed the monastery in 1214 and the dioceses of Glendalough and Dublin were united. The settlement was destroyed by English forces in 1398. A reconstruction program was started in 1878 and today the valley boasts a visitor centre, wooded trails, walkways and rock climbing. The monastic ruins include a round tower, seven churches, a gateway into the settlement with a Sanctuary Stone, two High Crosses, the priest’s house, a graveyard, Reeferts Church, St. Kevin’s Bed (Cave) and St. Kevin’s Cell (hermitage hut). More about.
PT: Luz zodiacal e o planeta Vénus na floresta de Glendalough. Com o significado “Vale dos dois lagos”, é um vale glacial no condado de Wicklow, na Irlanda, conhecida por uma povoação monástica medieval precoce fundada no século 6 pelo St Kevin. Combina extensas ruínas monásticas com um cenário natural deslumbrante nas montanhas de Wicklow. A beleza e tranquilidade dos lagos e do vale glacial esculpido, sem dúvida, chamaram a atenção do monge eremita St Kevin . A maioria dos edifícios que sobreviveram até aos dias de hoje datam do século 12. Apesar dos ataques de Vikings ao longo dos anos, Glendalough prosperou como uma das grandes fundações eclesiásticas irlandesas e escolas de aprendizagem até que os normandos destruiram o mosteiro em 1214 e as dioceses de Glendalough e Dublin foram unidos. A liquidação foi destruída por forças inglesas em 1398. Um programa de reconstrução foi iniciado em 1878 e hoje o vale dispõe de um centro de visitantes, trilhas arborizadas, calçadas e escalada. As ruínas monásticas incluem uma torre redonda, sete igrejas, uma porta de entrada para a povoação com um Santuário de pedra, duas cruzes celtas altas, casa do padre e um cemitério.
Celtic Cemetery in Glendalough
The Celtic cemetery at Glendalough has spread Celtic crosses and ancient gravestones throughout the area. Finest examples of a plain cross remarkably carved from a single granite stone. The cross is the most ancient and powerful of symbols: an encounter of the vertical with the horizontal, the feminine & masculine, temporal & eternal. The circle of the Celtic cross, implying infinity, gives it a cosmic dimension. The arms of the cross are over a metre in length. The imperforate cross stands about 2.5m tall. It may have marked the boundary of the cemetery in which stands the priests’ house. This cross is a fine example of how St Patrick trying to help the once pagan people of Ireland acclimate to Christianity. This was done by combining the cross with the circle representing the sun, because the pagans worshipped the sun and moon. A local legend surrounding St. Kevin’s Cross says that anyone who can wrap their arms around the entire width of the cross body and close the circle by touching fingertips will have their wishes granted.
Glendalough (meaning “Valley of two lakes”) is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. It combines extensive monastic ruins with a stunning natural setting in the Wicklow Mountains. The beauty and tranquility of the lakes and glacial-carved valley no doubt appealed to St Kevin, a hermit monk, who founded the monastic site near the Lower Lake in the 6th Century. Most of the buildings that survive today date from the 10th through 12th centuries. Despite attacks by Vikings over the years, Glendalough thrived as one of Irelands great ecclesiastical foundations and schools of learning until the Normans destroyed the monastery in 1214 and the dioceses of Glendalough and Dublin were united. The settlement was destroyed by English forces in 1398. A reconstruction program was started in 1878 and today the valley boasts a visitor centre, wooded trails, walkways and rock climbing. The monastic ruins include a round tower, seven churches, a gateway into the settlement with a Sanctuary Stone, two High Crosses, the priest’s house, a graveyard, Reeferts Church, St. Kevin’s Bed (Cave) and St. Kevin’s Cell (hermitage hut). More about.
PT: Este cemitério em Glendalough tem espalhadas cruzes celtas e lápides anciãs. A cruz celta é um belo exemplo de uma cruz simples notavelmente esculpida de uma única pedra de granito. A cruz é o mais antiga e poderoso símbolo: um encontro do vertical com o horizontal, o feminino e masculino, temporal e eterno. O círculo da cruz celta, o que implica infinito, dá-lhe uma dimensão cósmica. Estas cruzes celtas podem ser encontradas no cemitério de Glendalough. Com o significado “Vale dos dois lagos”, é um vale glacial no condado de Wicklow, na Irlanda, conhecida por uma povoação monástica medieval precoce fundada no século 6 pelo St Kevin. Combina extensas ruínas monásticas com um cenário natural deslumbrante nas montanhas de Wicklow. A beleza e tranquilidade dos lagos e do vale glacial esculpido, sem dúvida, chamaram a atenção do monge eremita St Kevin . A maioria dos edifícios que sobreviveram até aos dias de hoje datam do século 12. Apesar dos ataques de Vikings ao longo dos anos, Glendalough prosperou como uma das grandes fundações eclesiásticas irlandesas e escolas de aprendizagem até que os normandos destruiram o mosteiro em 1214 e as dioceses de Glendalough e Dublin foram unidos. A liquidação foi destruída por forças inglesas em 1398. Um programa de reconstrução foi iniciado em 1878 e hoje o vale dispõe de um centro de visitantes, trilhas arborizadas, calçadas e escalada. As ruínas monásticas incluem uma torre redonda, sete igrejas, uma porta de entrada para a povoação com um Santuário de pedra, duas cruzes celtas altas, casa do padre e um cemitério.
Celtic Cross in Ireland
This Celtic Cross is a fine example of a plain cross remarkably carved from a single granite stone. The cross is the most ancient and powerful of symbols: an encounter of the vertical with the horizontal, the feminine & masculine, temporal & eternal. The circle of the Celtic cross, implying infinity, gives it a cosmic dimension. The arms of the cross are over a meter in length. The imperforate cross stands about 2.5m tall. It may have marked the boundary of the cemetery in which stands the priests’ house. This cross is a fine example of how St Patrick trying to help the once pagan people of Ireland acclimate to Christianity. This was done by combining the cross with the circle representing the sun, because the pagans worshipped the sun and moon. A local legend surrounding St. Kevin’s Cross says that anyone who can wrap their arms around the entire width of the cross body and close the circle by touching fingertips will have their wishes granted.
Glendalough (meaning “Valley of two lakes”) is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. It combines extensive monastic ruins with a stunning natural setting in the Wicklow Mountains. The beauty and tranquility of the lakes and glacial-carved valley no doubt appealed to St Kevin, a hermit monk, who founded the monastic site near the Lower Lake in the 6th Century. Most of the buildings that survive today date from the 10th through 12th centuries. Despite attacks by Vikings over the years, Glendalough thrived as one of Irelands great ecclesiastical foundations and schools of learning until the Normans destroyed the monastery in 1214 and the dioceses of Glendalough and Dublin were united. The settlement was destroyed by English forces in 1398. A reconstruction program was started in 1878 and today the valley boasts a visitor centre, wooded trails, walkways and rock climbing. The monastic ruins include a round tower, seven churches, a gateway into the settlement with a Sanctuary Stone, two High Crosses, the priest’s house, a graveyard, Reeferts Church, St. Kevin’s Bed (Cave) and St. Kevin’s Cell (hermitage hut). More about.
PT: Esta cruz celta é um belo exemplo de uma cruz simples notavelmente esculpida de uma única pedra de granito. A cruz é o mais antiga e poderoso símbolo: um encontro do vertical com o horizontal, o feminino e masculino, temporal e eterno. O círculo da cruz celta, o que implica infinito, dá-lhe uma dimensão cósmica. Estas cruzes celtas podem ser encontradas no cemitério de Glendalough. Com o significado “Vale dos dois lagos”, é um vale glacial no condado de Wicklow, na Irlanda, conhecida por uma povoação monástica medieval precoce fundada no século 6 pelo St Kevin. Combina extensas ruínas monásticas com um cenário natural deslumbrante nas montanhas de Wicklow. A beleza e tranquilidade dos lagos e do vale glacial esculpido, sem dúvida, chamaram a atenção do monge eremita St Kevin . A maioria dos edifícios que sobreviveram até aos dias de hoje datam do século 12. Apesar dos ataques de Vikings ao longo dos anos, Glendalough prosperou como uma das grandes fundações eclesiásticas irlandesas e escolas de aprendizagem até que os normandos destruiram o mosteiro em 1214 e as dioceses de Glendalough e Dublin foram unidos. A liquidação foi destruída por forças inglesas em 1398. Um programa de reconstrução foi iniciado em 1878 e hoje o vale dispõe de um centro de visitantes, trilhas arborizadas, calçadas e escalada. As ruínas monásticas incluem uma torre redonda, sete igrejas, uma porta de entrada para a povoação com um Santuário de pedra, duas cruzes celtas altas, casa do padre e um cemitério.
Celtic Cross Against the Night Sky
This Celtic Cross is a fine example of a plain cross remarkably carved from a single granite stone. The cross is the most ancient and powerful of symbols: an encounter of the vertical with the horizontal, the feminine & masculine, temporal & eternal. The circle of the Celtic cross, implying infinity, gives it a cosmic dimension. The arms of the cross are over a metre in length. The imperforate cross stands about 2.5m tall. It may have marked the boundary of the cemetery in which stands the priests’ house. This cross is a fine example of how St Patrick trying to help the once pagan people of Ireland acclimate to Christianity. This was done by combining the cross with the circle representing the sun, because the pagans worshipped the sun and moon. A local legend surrounding St. Kevin’s Cross says that anyone who can wrap their arms around the entire width of the cross body and close the circle by touching fingertips will have their wishes granted.
Glendalough (meaning “Valley of two lakes”) is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. It combines extensive monastic ruins with a stunning natural setting in the Wicklow Mountains. The beauty and tranquility of the lakes and glacial-carved valley no doubt appealed to St Kevin, a hermit monk, who founded the monastic site near the Lower Lake in the 6th Century. Most of the buildings that survive today date from the 10th through 12th centuries. Despite attacks by Vikings over the years, Glendalough thrived as one of Irelands great ecclesiastical foundations and schools of learning until the Normans destroyed the monastery in 1214 and the dioceses of Glendalough and Dublin were united. The settlement was destroyed by English forces in 1398. A reconstruction program was started in 1878 and today the valley boasts a visitor centre, wooded trails, walkways and rock climbing. The monastic ruins include a round tower, seven churches, a gateway into the settlement with a Sanctuary Stone, two High Crosses, the priest’s house, a graveyard, Reeferts Church, St. Kevin’s Bed (Cave) and St. Kevin’s Cell (hermitage hut). More about.
PT: Esta cruz celta é um belo exemplo de uma cruz simples notavelmente esculpida de uma única pedra de granito. A cruz é o mais antiga e poderoso símbolo: um encontro do vertical com o horizontal, o feminino e masculino, temporal e eterno. O círculo da cruz celta, o que implica infinito, dá-lhe uma dimensão cósmica. Estas cruzes celtas podem ser encontradas no cemitério de Glendalough. Com o significado “Vale dos dois lagos”, é um vale glacial no condado de Wicklow, na Irlanda, conhecida por uma povoação monástica medieval precoce fundada no século 6 pelo St Kevin. Combina extensas ruínas monásticas com um cenário natural deslumbrante nas montanhas de Wicklow. A beleza e tranquilidade dos lagos e do vale glacial esculpido, sem dúvida, chamaram a atenção do monge eremita St Kevin . A maioria dos edifícios que sobreviveram até aos dias de hoje datam do século 12. Apesar dos ataques de Vikings ao longo dos anos, Glendalough prosperou como uma das grandes fundações eclesiásticas irlandesas e escolas de aprendizagem até que os normandos destruiram o mosteiro em 1214 e as dioceses de Glendalough e Dublin foram unidos. A liquidação foi destruída por forças inglesas em 1398. Um programa de reconstrução foi iniciado em 1878 e hoje o vale dispõe de um centro de visitantes, trilhas arborizadas, calçadas e escalada. As ruínas monásticas incluem uma torre redonda, sete igrejas, uma porta de entrada para a povoação com um Santuário de pedra, duas cruzes celtas altas, casa do padre e um cemitério.
London, a Busy Night City
London is a very busy city since morning until mid night. This time lapse scene shows the Moonpath passing behind “The Shard” tower, where it is also visible beside some bright stars, lots of aerial traffic as well the motion of a busy river while the cranes above the soil are still working all night long. Also referred as the Shard of Glass and formerly London Bridge Tower, is a 95-storey skyscraper in Southwark, London, that forms part of the London Bridge Quarter development. Standing 309.6 metres (1,016 ft) high, the Shard is the tallest building in the United Kingdom, the 105th tallest building in the world, and the fourth tallest building in Europe.
PT: Esta imagem Cityscape da cidade de Londres captada durante uma sequência startrail mostra a agitação que se vive ao longo da noite no centro da cidade. Barcos atravessam o rio, gruas se movimentam freneticamente e a cada minuto aviões cruzam os céus londrinos. Tudo isto acontece a um ritmo alucinante, enquanto que pacificamente a lua se põe por detrás do gigantesco edifício de 300 metros “The Shard”. Também conhecido como “Shard of Glass” e anteriormente London Bridge Tower, o “The Shard” é um arranha-céu de 95 andares em Southwark, Londres, que faz parte do Quarter London Bridge. Atingindo 309,6 metros (1.016 pés) de altura, o Shard é o edifício mais alto do Reino Unido, o edifício 105º entre os mais altos do mundo, e o quarto edifício mais alto da Europa.
Startrail above chapel of Saint Kevin at Glendalough
Glendalough (meaning “Valley of two lakes”) is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. It combines extensive monastic ruins with a stunning natural setting in the Wicklow Mountains. The beauty and tranquility of the lakes and glacial-carved valley no doubt appealed to St Kevin, a hermit monk, who founded the monastic site near the Lower Lake in the 6th Century. Most of the buildings that survive today date from the 10th through 12th centuries. Despite attacks by Vikings over the years, Glendalough thrived as one of Irelands great ecclesiastical foundations and schools of learning until the Normans destroyed the monastery in 1214 and the dioceses of Glendalough and Dublin were united. The settlement was destroyed by English forces in 1398. A reconstruction program was started in 1878 and today the valley boasts a visitor centre, wooded trails, walkways and rock climbing. The monastic ruins include a round tower, seven churches, a gateway into the settlement with a Sanctuary Stone, two High Crosses, the priest’s house, a graveyard, Reeferts Church, St. Kevin’s Bed (Cave) and St. Kevin’s Cell (hermitage hut). More about.
In the image we can see a startrail above the celtic church of St. Kevin’s. This church is unusual, it has a round tower or belfry with conical cap integrated with the church. Perhaps because of its small size, or the tower resembling a chimney, it is frequently called “St. Kevin’s kitchen.” The tower is three stories high. Some sources suggest that it was part of the original structure, others claim it originally had a nave only with an entrance at the west end. The upper part of the gable window can be seen above what became the chancel arch, when the chancel (now missing) and the sacristy were added later. The steep roof has corbelled stones, similar to that atSt.Doolagh’s Church in Dublin and St. Columb’s Housein Kells. It is supported internally by a semi-circular vault. The church had a wooden upper floor and access to the roof chamber was through an opening at the western end of the vault.
PT: Na imagem podemos ver um startrail acima da igreja celta de St. Kevin, em Glendalough, Irlanda. Esta incomum igreja tem uma torre redonda ou campanário com o tampão cónico integrado, sendo frequentemente apelidada de “cozinha de St. Kevin.
Venus Reflecting on Causeway Coast of Northern Ireland
Venus is the second-brightest natural object in the night sky after the Moon, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows. Is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. It has the longest rotation period (243 days) of any planet in the Solar System and rotates in the opposite direction to most other planets. It has no natural satellite. It is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. Normally visible at Dawn or other times at Dusk, Venus has been a major fixture in human culture for as long as records have existed. It has been made sacred to gods of many cultures, and has been a prime inspiration for writers and poets as the “morning star” and “evening star”. In the image above, the brightness of this planet is reflecting in the ocean surface from Causeway Coast in Northern Ireland, due to a presence of tiny water droplets in thin clouds – which diffract the light of bright heavenly bodies working as a natural diffuse filter – we also can see a blueish color from its corona. The Giant’s Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles (4.8 km) northeast of the town of Bushmills. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, and a national nature reserve in 1987 by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland.
Enjoying the Moon above the City of London
A skygazer is enjoying the busy night of London city, from a lovely balcony view, with the crescent moon visible at the left side of “The Shard” tower. Also referred as the Shard of Glass and formerly London Bridge Tower, is a 95-storey skyscraper in Southwark, London, that forms part of the London Bridge Quarter development. Standing 309.6 metres (1,016 ft) high, the Shard is the tallest building in the United Kingdom, the 105th tallest building in the world, and the fourth tallest building in Europe.
Full Eye over London City
This full dome “eye view” from London city during the twilight, shows de Crescent Moon at the left side of “The Shard” tower. Also referred as the Shard of Glass and formerly London Bridge Tower, is a 95-storey skyscraper in Southwark, London, that forms part of the London Bridge Quarter development. Standing 309.6 metres (1,016 ft) high, the Shard is the tallest building in the United Kingdom, the 105th tallest building in the world, and the fourth tallest building in Europe.
Beyond the Limits of Earth – Astrophotography from an Airplane
When I was back to Lisbon from a large trip between Chile, Argentina and Uruguay with a stopover in São Paulo, Brazil, I had a rare opportunity somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and under the moonlight to take some images from the window of an airplane, during the sleeping hours, when the lights of the plane were shut off. I asked my colleague Apolónia Rodrigues to cover my head with a black jacket around the window to avoid any reflections from inside. The shutter speed had to be very fast for a night sky photography because it was very difficult to have a pinpoint stars without shaking with the movements of the plane. After a few attempts and efforts, I could capture some nice views with the stars and the night sky above Earth taken at a high altitude, probably between 10,000 to 12,000 meters at a cruise speed of ~900km/h, some of them with lightning below.
Due to the presence of moonlight we can distinguish very well the limb and transition between the blue color from our atmosphere and the black from outer space. Blue light is scattered more than other wavelengths by the gases in the atmosphere, giving Earth a blue halo. The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, commonly known as air, that surrounds the planet Earth and is retained by Earth’s gravity. The atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention (greenhouse effect), and reducing temperature extremes between day and night (the diurnal temperature variation). The atmosphere has a mass of about 5.15×1018 kg, three quarters of which is within about 11 km (6.8 mi; 36,000 ft) of the surface. The atmosphere becomes thinner and thinner with increasing altitude, with no definite boundary between the atmosphere and outer space. The Kármán line, at 100 km (62 mi), or 1.57% of Earth’s radius, is often used as the border between the atmosphere and outer space.
PT: De regresso a Lisboa a partir de uma grande viagem entre o Chile, Argentina e Uruguai com escala em São Paulo, Brasil, eu tive uma oportunidade rara enquanto estava algures a sobrevoar o Oceano Atlântico, de captar imagens ao luar a partir da janela de um avião comercial, durante as horas de sono e enquanto as luzes do avião foram desligados. Pedi à minha colega de equipa Apolónia Rodrigues para me cobrir a cabeça e ao redor da janela com um casaco preto, no sentido de evitar quaisquer reflexos a partir do interior do avião. A velocidade do obturador tinha que ser muito rápida para uma fotografia de céu noturna, porque era muito difícil ter estrelas pontuais com a agitação do avião. Depois de algumas tentativas e esforços, tive a felicidade de captar algumas imagens com as estrelas pontuais onde se distinguem as estrelas que compõem o Cão Maior e Orion e onde é possível ver também o contorno da atmosfera acima da Terra. As imagens foram tiradas a uma alta altitude, provavelmente entre 10.000 a 12.000 metros e a uma velocidade de cruzeiro de ~ 900 km/h, alguns deles com relâmpagos abaixo .
The troposphere is the lowest layer of Earth’s atmosphere. It extends from Earth’s surface to an average height of about 12 km, although this altitude actually varies from about 9 km (30,000 ft) at the poles to 17 km (56,000 ft) at the equator, with some variation due to weather. Most conventional aviation activity takes place in the troposphere, and it is the only layer that can be accessed by propeller-driven aircraft.
In one of the pictures I made an annotation with the main constellations visible. Orion and Sirius are very well spotted. Each one is a single shot: Canon 6D, Exp: 1/3s; ISO8000 24mm f/2.8
Prime Meridian Laser in Greenwich
The Greenwich Meridian separates east from west in the same way that the Equator separates north from south. Inextricably linked with Greenwich Mean Time, it also sits at the centre of our system of time zones. Its path is determined by the location of an historic telescope, the Airy Transit Circle (51°28′40.1″N 0°0′5.3″W), which is housed at the Royal Observatory of Greenwich, in London. The Prime Meridian was established by Sir George Airy in 1851.
A prime meridian is a meridian (a line of longitude) in a geographical coordinate system at which longitude is defined to be 0°. Together, a prime meridian and its antimeridian (the 180th meridian in a 360°-system) form a great circle. This great circle divides the sphere, e.g., the Earth, into two hemispheres. If one uses directions of East and West from a defined prime meridian, then they can be called Eastern Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere.
PT: O meridiano de Greenwich separa “Este” de “Oeste” da mesma forma que o Equador separa o Norte do Sul. Intimamente ligado com Greenwich Mean Time, também está no centro do nosso sistema de fusos horários. O seu caminho é determinado pela localização de um telescópio histórico, o “Airy Transit Circle” (51°28′40.1″N 0°0′5.3″W), que está localizado no Observatório Real de Greenwich, em Londres. O Meridiano de Greenwich foi criada por Sir George Airy em 1851.
The Prime Meridian in Greenwich Observatory, was long marked by a brass strip in the courtyard, now replaced by stainless steel, and, since 16 December 1999, has been marked by a powerful green laser shining north across the London night sky. The Meridian laser marks the route of the Greenwich Meridian by night in a northerly direction from the Royal Observatory. Under good viewing conditions, it is visible at a distance of over 36 miles with the naked eye and over 60 miles with binoculars.
Penumbral Lunar Eclipse in the Harvest Moon above Sesimbra Castle
On september 16h the disc of the moon has reached the 100% illumination exactly at the same time he was rising in the portuguese sky. This september Full Moon is known, according to folklore, as the Harvest Moon, “a bright orb that shines down on the ripening fields of the northern hemisphere, allowing farmers to harvest their crops late into the night”. Besides his normal brightness when it is Full, this particular Moon was a bit darker then normal, due to a penumbral lunar eclipse, that happens when the Moon passes through the pale outskirts of Earth’s shadow. It is much less dramatic than a total lunar eclipse. The final image is a sequence shot captured during 25 minutes, at the moonrise, with a 200mm lens at about 700 meters away from the Sesimbra Castle, in Portugal.
PT: Eclipse penumbral da Lua captada no dia 16 de Setembro. Nesta sequência de disparos combinada, é possível o nascer da Lua acima do Castelo de Sesimbra. Como o eclipse é penumbral, apenas a região superior da lua é ligeiramente escurecida pelo cone de sombra da terra.
Dreaming Sphere
A path of light illuminates our land on Earth, but in the same way, a light cloud of gas and dust is shining bright and high in the sky of this full dome view. In the foreground, a dead tree is standing below the gigantic arc of our galaxy, the Milky Way. This “dreaming sphere” was captured in Noudar Park, Alqueva Dark Sky® Reserve, Barrancos.
PT: Um caminho de luz ilumina a Terra, enquanto simultaneamente uma nuvem luminosa de gás e poeira cósmica brilha alto no céu desta visão “full dome”. Em primeiro plano, uma árvore morta mantém-se erguida abaixo do gigantesco arco galáctico da Via Láctea. Esta “esfera de sonhos” foi captada no Parque de Natureza de Noudar, em Barrancos, na Reserva Dark Sky® Alqueva.
Colorful Night Sky – A Stellar Spectrum
When we first look at the night sky, we can not distinguish the color of each star with our own eyes, although, if we record in a long exposure sequence the path of each star, due to the motion of rotating Earth and consequently the rotation of celestial sphere, a starry trailed sky can reveal much of our colorful Universe. In the image above, captured in Noudar Park, Alqueva Dark Sky® Reserve, Portugal, we can see a lot of different color paths, like: blue, yellow, white or orange. Each color is directly related to the type and temperature of each star. Some of them are hottest, like Alfirk, in Cepheus constellation, and some are coolest like Eltanin, in Draco.
In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a prism or diffraction grating into a spectrum exhibiting the rainbow of colors interspersed with absorption lines. Each line indicates an ion of a certain chemical element, with the line strength indicating the abundance of that ion. The relative abundance of the different ions varies with the temperature of the photosphere. The spectral class of a star is a short code summarizing the ionization state, giving an objective measure of the photosphere’s temperature and density.
Most stars are currently classified under the Morgan–Keenan (MK) system using the letters O, B, A, F, G, K, and M, a sequence from the hottest (O type – blue stars) to the coolest (M type – red stars). Each letter class is then subdivided using a numeric digit with 0 being hottest and 9 being coolest (e.g. A8, A9, F0, F1 form a sequence from hotter to cooler). The sequence has been expanded with classes for other stars and star-like objects that do not fit in the classical system, such as class D for white dwarfs and class C for carbon stars.
In the MK system, a luminosity class is added to the spectral class using Roman numerals. This is based on the width of certain absorption lines in the star’s spectrum, which vary with the density of the atmosphere and so distinguish giant stars from dwarfs. Luminosity class 0 or Ia+ stars for hypergiants, class I stars for supergiants, class II for bright giants, class III for regular giants, class IV for sub-giants, class V for main-sequence stars, class sd for sub-dwarfs, and class D for white dwarfs. The full spectral class for the Sun is then G2V, indicating a main-sequence star with a temperature around 5,800 K. Source and more info: click here.
PT: Quando de noite olhamos para o céu não conseguimos percepcionar com os nossos próprios olhos a cor de cada estrela, no entanto, se registarmos numa sequência de longa exposição o rasto de cada estrela, devido ao movimento de rotação da Terra e à consequente rotação da esfera celeste, uma imagem startrail poderá revelar um Universo colorido e rico em informação. Na imagem acima captada no Parque de Natureza de Noudar, Reserva Dark Sky® Alqueva, em Barrancos, podemos ver uma grande diversidade de cores desde o azul, ao amarelo, branco ou laranja. Cada cor está directamente relacionada com o tipo e temperatura de cada estrela. Algumas delas são mais quentes, como Alfirk, na constelação do Cefeu, e outras são mais frias como Eltanin, no Dragão.
Milky Way above Trees in São Pedro de Atacama
Central region of Milky Way above the trees of a farm from the small desert village of São Pedro de Atacama. Chile – October 2015.
PT: Região Central da Via Láctea acima das árvores de uma quinta na vila de São Pedro de Atacama. Chile. Outubro 2015
Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds above São Pedro de Atacama
Milky Way arc with Zodiacal Light above a farm from the small desert village of São Pedro de Atacama. In the left part of this panoramic view, is also visible the Canopus star rising above the horizon and the Large (LMC) and Small (SMC) Magellanic clouds shining high in the sky of Chile – October 2015.
PT: O arco da Via Láctea e a Luz Zodiacal acima de uma quinta na vila de São Pedro de Atacama. À esquerda, a estrela Canopus nasce acima do horizonte, e logo acima desta, erguem-se a grande (LMC) e pequena (SMC) Nuvem de Magalhães – galáxias satélite da Via Láctea – visíveis a olho nu, brilham intensamente nos céus do Chile. Outubro 2015
Perseids Meteor Shower in the Sky of Mourão
Some meteors crossing the sky of Mourão in Dark Sky® Alqueva reserve, against the background of Milky Way galaxy as seen just 1 day after the predicted peak, on 13th August. Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift–Tuttle. The Perseids are so called because the point from which they appear to come, called the radiant, lies in the constellation of Perseus. The background image is a single exposure with one meteor captured, the other seven meteors were combined as a result of a sequence of consecutive exposures to show the radiant of Perseids.
PT: Alguns meteoros cruzando o céu de Mourão na Reserva Dark Sky® Alqueva, contra o fundo da Via Láctea, um dia após o pico previsto a 13 de Agosto. As Perseidas são uma chuva de meteoros muito intensa, associada à passagem do cometa Swift-Tuttle. As Perseidas são assim chamadas porque o ponto a partir do qual elas parecem radiar, o radiante, encontra-se na constelação do Perseus. A imagem de fundo é uma única exposição com um meteoro capturado, os outros sete meteoros foram combinadas como resultado de uma sequência de exposições consecutivas para mostrar o radiante da chuva de estrelas mais activa do ano.
Perseids in Noudar Park
Some meteors from Perseids shower captured one week before the peak predicted to 12 August, above the landscape of Noudar Park, in Alqueva Dark Sky® Reserve, Barrancos. In the foreground an Olive Tree is at the left side of Milky Way.
PT: Alguns meteoros captados uma semana antes do pico máximo da chuva de estrelas anual das Perseidas, previsto para 12 de Agosto. Acima deles, é possível ver o céu do Parque de Natureza de Noudar, em Barrancos, Reserva Dark Sky® Alqueva. No primeiro plano, uma oliveira destaca-se do horizonte à esquerda da imponente presença da Via Láctea.
Stargazing in Punta Cana
EN: Enjoying the night surrounded by coconut trees spread along Punta Cana beach, in Dominican Republic.
PT: Relaxando numa noite estrelada, cercado por coqueiros espalhados ao longo da praia de Punta Cana, na República Dominicana.
Moon above Punta Cana Resort
The moonlight above a resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
PT: O Luar acima de um resort em Punta Cana, República Dominicana.
Coconut Tree Startrail
A startrail captured over the region of Scorpius constellation above the coconut trees spread along Punta Cana beach, in Dominican Republic.
PT: Rastos de estrelas na região da constelação do Escorpião captados acima dos coqueiros espalhados ao longo da praia de Punta Cana, na República Dominicana.
Milky Way above Valle de la Muerte in Chile
Milky Way and Zodiacal Light captured after the nautical twilight above Valle de la Muerte, in la Cordillera De La Sal, near San Pedro de Atacama, Chile – October 2015.
PT: Via Láctea e a Luz Zodiacal captada a seguir ao crepúsculo náutico acima do Vale da Morte, na cordilheira De La Sal, próxima a São Pedro de Atacama, no Chile. Outubro 2015
Moon Atomium
A 16% Crescent Moon between the UFO structure of Atomium, in Brussels, Belgium. The whole forms the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times, showing how small we are in this Universe, but at the same time, how big we are as a Humankind. Developing and increasing our skills, creating the capacity of constructing and doing big things on Earth. This can be the closest real view and the ideia that we have of an UFO spaceship, that has indeed, human life on board of these spheres.
EN: The Atomium is a building in Brussels originally constructed for Expo 58, the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair. Designed by the engineer André Waterkeyn and architects André and Jean Polak it stands 102 m (335 ft) tall. Its nine 18 m (59 ft) diameter stainless steel clad spheres are connected. The name is a combination of atom and aluminium. It is a museum. The whole thing is made up of 9 spheres (one at each of the 8 points and one in the middle) connected by 20 tubes (12 cube edges plus 2 tubes for the 4 diagonals): the structure rests on 3 pillars (or bipods). They enclose stairs, escalators and a lift (in the central, vertical tube) to allow access to the five habitable spheres which contain exhibit halls and other public spaces. A permanent exhibition dedicated to Expo 58 and temporary exhibitions devoted to architecture, design and society. It could be the closest ideia we have of an UFO spaceship, that has indeed, human life on board of these 5 spheres. MC
PT: O Atomium foi construído em 1958 em Bruxelas no âmbito da Expo 58. Com 102 metros de altura, o Atomium representa um cristal elementar de ferro ampliado 165 mil milhões de vezes, com tubos que ligam as 9 partes formando 8 vértices. As esferas de ferro com cerca de 18 metros de diâmetro estão ligadas por tubos com escadas no seu interior com um comprimento de cerca de 35 metros. As janelas instaladas na esfera do topo oferecem aos visitantes uma vista panorâmica da cidade. Outras esferas têm exposições sobre os anos 50. As três esferas, às quais só se tem acesso por tubos verticais, estão fechadas ao público por razões de segurança.
Bridge of Light – Connecting worlds, realities and dimensions
EN: A bridge could be a connection of two worlds, realities or dimensions, or simply two sides of lake as we can see on the image, but in a figurative sense, could also be a word that simbolizes a “perfect connection” between pristine and modern, the night sky and the landscape of our beautiful planet in suspension among the arm of gas and dust from our galaxy, the Milky Way. Reflected in the calm water of the largest manmade lake in Europe (250Km²) are the light of a slowly lonely car that took several seconds to cross the entire bridge. But also the light of the stars, which took hundred or millions of years at a speed of light to reach this particular point, ready to be recorded in this singular picture taken from one of the rare Dark Sky places on Earth, in Mourão, Alqueva Dark Sky Reserve.
PT: Uma ponte pode ser a conexão de dois mundos, realidades ou dimensões, ou simplesmente a ligação a duas margens de um lago. Em sentido figurado, também pode ser uma palavra que simboliza uma “conexão perfeita” entre o Prístino e o Moderno, o céu noturno e a paisagem do nosso belo planeta em suspensão entre o braço de gás e poeira cósmica da nossa galáxia, a Via Láctea. Refletida na água calma do maior lago artificial da Europa (250Km²), está não só a luz de um carro lento e solitário que levou vários segundos para completar a travessia desta ponte e gravar o seu trajecto no espelho de água do Alqueva, como também o brilho das estrelas que levou dezenas, centenas e milhares de anos a percorrer numa viajem à velocidade da luz, a distância que nos separa no longínquo vácuo Interestelar. Aqui ficaram registadas as impressões de luz de uma viagem no tempo e no espaço, na história da própria Terra, do próprio Homem, um ser inteligente mas ainda recente na cronologia da vida deste Universo, que nesta imagem singular nos é revelado em perfeita harmonia e sintonia com a natureza que nos rodeia, num dos raros lugares da Terra onde o céu da antiguidade, ainda pode ser apreciado, partilhado e lembrado. Mourão, Dark Sky® Alqueva.
Rainbow Bands of Airglow in Gravity Waves above Pico Island Were seen from NOAA/NASA Satellite in Space
Featured as NASA´s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD).
PT | EN During a climb to the highest mountain of Portugal (2351m) – Pico mountain, located in Pico island, Azores – with a very hard weather conditions due to a strong winds and rain during almost the entire photo expedition with my team colleagues, I stopped at about 1200 meters to appreciate the views and photograph the lights coming from the island of Faial in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, in a rare occasion with only a few clouds and part of the “winter” Milky Way visible as a background of a temporarily clear sky. Above the low clouds, I have captured strange “rainbow bands” of airglow and between them, the Andromeda Galaxy M31 on the top left of the picture. The air glows all of the time, but it is usually hard to see. A disturbance however – like an approaching storm – may cause noticeable rippling in the Earth’s atmosphere. The bands are actually huge parallel structures in the thermosphere 90 km upwards. Perspective makes them appear to converge. These atmospheric Gravity Waves* (not confound with gravitational waves related to Einstein) propagating upwards from disturbances lower down in the atmosphere, are likely the source of the bands. The wave amplitude increases with height (reducing density) and wavelengths can be thousands of kilometers.
Dr. Martin Setvák from Czech Hydrometeorological Institute Satellite Department, Praha, Czech Republic, has processed the Suomi-NPP VIIRS data to check if these gravity waves in airglow can be found in NOAA/NASA Soumi-NPP satellite Day/Night Band (DNB) image. The “day-night band,” of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite has indeed captured these glowing ripples in the night sky. The day-night band detects lights over a range of wavelengths from green to near-infrared and uses highly sensitive electronics to observe low light signals. The structures of the bands can be seen below, above the Pico and Faial islands in Azores, Portugal.
Airglow is a layer of nighttime light emissions caused by chemical reactions, light of electronically and/or vibration-rotationally excited atoms and molecules high in Earth’s atmosphere, by solar ultra-violet radiation. A variety of reactions involving oxygen, sodium, ozone, and nitrogen result in the production of a very faint amount of light. In fact, it’s approximately one billion times fainter than sunlight. Technically speaking, airglow occurs at all times. During the day it is called “dayglow,” at twilight “twilightglow,” and at night “nightglow”. There are slightly different processes taking place in each case, but in the image above the source of light is nightglow or airglow.
In the first colorful image captured above Pico, we can see a rare event where is distinguished almost each possible airglow color that is appearing on a single band (Gravity Wave) showed like a rainbow. Below is the Airglow Spectrum designed and explained by the expert Dr. Les Cowley from Atmospheric Optics. Green light from excited oxygen atoms dominates the glow. The atoms are 90-100 km (56-62 mile) high in the thermosphere. The weaker red light is from oxygen atoms further up. Sodium atoms, hydroxyl radicals (OH) and molecular oxygen add to the light.
Dr. Steve Smith, Senior Research Scientist at Center for Space Physics of Boston University, is a specialist in airglow and has explained the rare phenomenon captured on these images: “The photo is very other-worldly but it is indeed a photo of two, maybe three, airglow layers with gravity waves propagating through them in the upper mesosphere. The green is most likely due to atomic oxygen near 96 km. The red is probably due to hydroxyl (OH) near 87 km. Possibly sodium from near 90 k m also but the orange may also just be the response of the system to the combination of the red and green airglow. The awesome rainbow appearance of the patterns is easily explained. A GW wave propagates upwards at an angle and because airglow layers reside at slightly different altitudes, the waves reach each layer at a slightly different times. The vertical scale size of the gravity waves is also much larger than the height differences between the layers: OH = 87 km | Na = 90 km | O2 = 94 km | OI = 96 km.
I exploit the fact of the altitude separation of the four brightest airglow layers in my work to determine the scale sizes and other things associated with the GWs. Sometimes atomic oxygen can also produce red emission. This occurs due times of auroral activity particularly at high latitudes but occasionally in the mid-latitudes during strong aurora. This red-line OI emission, as it is called, originates from 250 km (much higher) in the thermosphere and would not match wave patterns seen in the green-line OI emission.
Solar activity has little effect on gravity wave activity in the mesosphere, at least at the latitude of the Azores. There may be effects at high latitudes though. Also solar activity seen on the sun’s disc doesn’t necessarily impact the Earth. Flares and other solar phenomena that are rich in x-rays and UV radiation can cause immediate effects in the earth’s upper atmosphere. Also, even though a CME my be observed occurring on the sun, it may not affect the Earth because they usually miss us because of the sun’s rotation. The Kp index – a measure of the solar activity prior to the time of this photo was at 2-3, which means a relatively quiet time. At the location of the Azores, one would need a Kp index of 6-7 to see auroral emission.”
Dr. Steven D. Miller, Senior Research Scientist – Deputy Director Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere – Colorado State University, have commented the fact that the photos were taken at high altitude and this would probably be the reason why the greens are seen so well, since oxygen in the lower atmosphere will absorb much of that downwelling emission.
Dr. Les Cowley, explain in Atmospheric Optics page that red/orange could be yet more oxygen airglow, this time from atoms 150-300km high where the atmosphere is so sparse and collisions so infrequent that the atoms have time to radiate ‘forbidden’ light (1D ->3P) before losing their electronic excitation in impacts with other atoms and molecules. Deep red banded airglow is likely emission from vibrationally excited OH radicals in a layer ~86km high. Blue airglow is much much fainter and not very obvious on the image. Excited molecular oxygen at ~95 km high can produce it. The excitation is indirect. Possible routes are via daylight dissociation of N2 and NO or twilight recombination of NO+ whose reaction products generate excited O2. The oxygen then decays by emitting blue multi-wavelength banded radiation (Herzberg bands) if it is not first collisionally de-excited.
After receiving the first results of the Suomi-NPP VIIRS satellite, I decided to start processing another 12 images taken in the same place and time, to create a wide-angle – panoramic view – of more than 200º where it is clearly visible the airglow activity combined with strong ripples from gravity waves occurring in a huge part of the sky from West to Northeast (from left to right on the panoramic image above). At the same time, Dr. Martin Stevák, starts the final stage of processing the images taken by Suomi-NPP VIIRS satellite but in different bands and the result is shown below. These are in Transverse Mercator projection, centered at 38.5N 28W, remapped to 1km pixel size (for Azores).
DNB image
M15 IR band image
Night-Microphysical RGB image
More information about Suomi-NPP satellite and its bands can be found on the following links: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NPP/main/index.html | http://npp.gsfc.nasa.gov/suomi.html | http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/projects/npp/ | http://www.pnas.org/content/109/39/15706.full.pdf | http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/5/12/6717
Below, on (A) we can see the DNB image, that can show the Gravity Waves appearing high in the atmosphere, but on (B) Night-Microphysical RGB image can show a different waves from low atmosphere, they are very likely part of the same spectrum of waves launched by the small island of Flores. The (C) is an output from EUMETRAIN’s ePort (http://www.eumetrain.org/eport.html), for 2015-11-17 00 UTC, based on Meteosat WV6.2 band and showing the geopotential (“height”) of the 300 hPa pressure level (in cyan) and isotachs (yellow) at the same level (both from the ECMWF model). The red arrow indicates the jet-stream above the Azores. The (D) is the WV band 27 from Terra MODIS satellite taken at 00:20 UTC. The images are in the same projection and pixel size as the Soumi-NPP images (A & B). The (E) is a Meteosat-10 satellite in the Airmass-RGB product, documenting the dynamics of the atmosphere in the area, and namely showing the jet stream above Azores, taken at 03:00 UTC, the arrow points to the jet-stream band, and the polygon indicates roughly the area covered by NPP images. To watch a 24h loop from Meteosat-10 satellite, click here.
Below is a illustration from a combination of Google Earth Maps from Azores region and Stellarium planetarium software, that can show through the yellow dot, where I was located in the island and which direction my camera was pointing to the sky – as we can see in the illustration at right.
Gravity waves (disturbances to the density structure of the atmosphere whose restoring forces are gravity and buoyancy) comprise the principal form of energy exchange between the lower and upper atmosphere. Wave breaking drives the mean upper atmospheric circulation, determining boundary conditions to stratospheric processes, which in turn influence tropospheric weather and climate patterns on various spatial and temporal scales. Despite their recognized importance, very little is known about upper-level gravity wave characteristics. The knowledge gap is mainly due to lack of global, high-resolution observations from currently available satellite observing systems. The capability of the Day/Night Band (DNB) on the NOAA/NASA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership environmental satellite to resolve gravity structures near the mesopause via nightglow emissions at unprecedented subkilometric detail, are impressive. On moonless nights, the Day/Night Band observations provide all-weather viewing of waves as they modulate the nightglow layer located near the mesopause (∼90 km above mean sea level). These waves are launched by a variety of physical mechanisms, ranging from orography to convection, intensifying fronts, and even seismic and volcanic events. Cross-referencing the Day/Night Band imagery with conventional thermal infrared imagery also available helps to discern nightglow structures and in some cases to attribute their sources. The capability stands to advance our basic understanding of a critical yet poorly constrained driver of the atmospheric circulation. More about this study and scientific paper which includes the picture of my TWAN colleague Jeff Dai , led by Dr. Steven D. Miller, Dr. Steve Smith and others…
Below in gray scale are DNB images captured by Suomi-NPP VIIRS satellite above Pico island, Azores, as a result of a pre-processing enhanced by a High-Pass filter. Taken on 17th November of 2015 at 02h05AM (03h05 GMT. Local time for the Azores is GMT-1,) approximately at same time I took the pictures from Earth between 1h43 and 2h00AM, pointing to the same direction of the sky. Those waves seen at ~2AM local were right overhead at that time. The waves can change rapidly over the course of an hour, so must have been a very expansive wave train, which seems to be consistent with a large-scale forcing like a frontal system. The result shows the ripples of atmospheric Gravity Waves (left and right image).
Suomi NPP is in orbit around Earth at 834 kilometers (about 518 miles), well above the nightglow layer. The day-night band imagery contains signals from the upward emission of the nightglow layer and the reflection of the nightglow emissions from clouds and Earth’s surface. While nightglow is a well-known phenomenon, it is not typically considered by meteorological sensors. In fact, scientists were surprised at Suomi NPP’s ability to detect it. During the satellite’s check-out procedures, scientists thought this light source was a problem with the sensor until they realized that they were seeing the faintest light in the darkness of night. Learn more about the VIIRS day-night band and nighttime imaging of Earth in this story: Out of the Blue and Into the Black.
In conclusion, Dr. Steven D. Miller, has shared his thoughts related to this picture and beyond…by saying: “is that it would be very nice to have such observations on a geostationary satellite platform so as to be able to observe the wave motion and from that information infer important properties of the energy transfer. The community has a growing interest for such observations now that we are seeing them in “snapshot mode” from the Day/Night Band. The hope is that the publicity gained by such nice photos as yours will help to raise awareness on our need to better characterize the full atmospheric circulation if we hope to represent climate processes accurately in the models we appeal to for insight on climate change.”
The resulted image was also published in a Poster from Dr. Martin Setvák and Dr. Steven D. Miller entitled:
The TWAN ( The World at Night ) have now one of the best collection of hight quality images in the world with many different views of Airglow and Gravity Waves phenomenon captured by TWAN photographers spread around the globe, that could be a great scientific tool to help scientists understanding better this atmospheric phenomenon, as seen from different places on Earth and comparing them to the satellite images from Space.
Professional astronomer and TWAN photographer Yuri Beletsky, in an interesting answer to a question made by our colleague Anthony Ayiomamitis about how does airglow could impact the professional work done by astronomers in places with professional telescopes in sites like ESO – European Southern Observatory, saying that: “It really depends on many factors (imaging vs spectroscopy, field of view, overlapping with interesting spectroscopic lines, etc..). Therefore the answer is – it does affect the observations, but it does not necessarily affect particular scientific case you are trying to solve using those observations.”
* “Drop a stone into a pool of water. The spreading ripples are gravity waves. The waves occur between any stable layers of fluids of different density. When the fluid boundary is disturbed, buoyancy forces try to restore the equilibrium. The fluid returns to its original shape, overshoots and oscillations then set in which propagate as waves. Gravity or buoyancy is the restoring force hence the term – gravity waves.”
Airglow photographs and compiled text with story by © Miguel Claro – The article was written based in the collected information and collaboration of each specialist and intervenient in different fields of working that has analyzed this images from Pico, and that have been specifically mentioned along the article, now published at (www.miguelclaro.com) with his knowledge and review.
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A Cork Tree Surrounded by a Strong Presence of Airglow
EN: An all sky – fulldome view – of a huge Cork trees with a background full of green yellowed Air Glow (Atmospheric Chemiluminescence) that surrounds the entire Earth and can be seen from space. Sky of Alandroal | Alqueva Dark Sky
PT: Uma visão all sky de um grande sobreiro, onde por detrás deste e em pano de fundo, é possível observar a forte presença de Air glow, um fenómeno conhecido por luminescência fotoquímica da atmosfera com a presença de um tom verde amarelado junto ao horizonte, é uma emissão que rodeia todo o planeta Terra e pode ser vista do espaço. Céu do Alandroal | Dark Sky Alqueva
Zodiacal Light and Milky Way above Dark Sky Alqueva
EN: Only possible to observe in a really dark and special sky, like it is the Dark Sky® Alqueva Reserve, the tenuous presence of the Zodiacal Light forming almost a “V” with the opposite direction of Milky Way. The zodiacal light is a faint light beam that extends along the ecliptic plane, where they are the constellations of the Zodiac. It is caused by the scattering of sunlight in cosmic dust particles that can be found scattered all over the Solar System | Naveterra homestead, Sky of Alandroal
PT: Só possível de observar num céu bem escuro e especial como o da Reserva Dark Sky® Alqueva, a ténue presença da Luz Zodiacal forma quase um “V” em oposição à Via Láctea. A luz zodiacal é um feixe de luz fraca que se estende ao longo do plano da eclíptica, onde estão as constelações do Zodíaco. É causada pela dispersão da luz solar nas partículas de poeira cósmica que se podem encontrar espalhadas um pouco por todo o Sistema Solar | Herdade Naveterra, Céu do Alandroal
Ursa Major & Ursa Minor above the Ruins of Roman City Ammaia
EN: The northern constellations Ursa Major (Big Dipper) and Ursa Minor – in a diffuse vision by a passing cloud – as seen from inside the remaining ruins of the Southern Gate Tower of the Roman City of Ammaia.
The Gradual consolidation of Roman power led to the establishment of a substantial Roman town in the 1st century. Ammaia occupied up to 25 hectares, and with a population exceeding modern-day Marvão (5000-6000 inhabitants) Ammaia occupied the site of the present-day parish of São Salvador da Aramenha. The town flourished between the 1st century BCE and the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century CE. Roman Ammaia saw the development of improved irrigation and terracing across the Marvão mountain. Chestnut cultivation – Replacing the place dominance of oak is likely to have been introduced at this time. Much of the terracing and ancient watercourses on the mountain Marvão date from this era.
Limited excavations at Ammaia in the past two decades covering a mere 3,000 m2 (32.292 sq ft) of the town’s area – have revealed the success, provincial expanding town that included running water, a forum, baths, the bridge over the river Sever (near today’s ‘Old Bridge’), and monumental gates (one gate was removed to Castelo de Vide in the 18th century, yet sadly dynamited in 1890). The Alentejo region, meanwhile, was criss-crossed with efficient Roman roads, providing links to the wider Empire. Fine wares found at the site Ammaia suggest que Ammaia nobility had access to luxury glassware and jewelery, while archeology has Revealed that marble for the forum was imported from across the Empire. The high quality, for example, of the ‘Mosaic of the Muses’ from a Roman villa in nearby Monforte (4th century BCE) points to the abundant riches to be made to an Alentejo landowner in the Roman era. Sadly, many artifacts from Ammaia in particular the series of marble sculptures were removed during the 19th and 20th centuries, notably by the Anglo-Portuguese Robinson family. These items are now in collections such as those of the British Museum..
Many of the excavations were concentrated over the obvious ruins or where there was evidence of subterranean structures associated with a Roman presence. Discoveries include parts of a Roman city wall with towers and a gate on the south side, with residenctial buildings; a road; a monumental paved square; remains of a house in the location Quinta do Deão; parts of a public bath building; and a centrally-located forum with well-preserved temple podium, walls of a porticus and cryptoporticus. The town plan follows a regular rectangular layout organized along two main perpendicular street axes, linking the central forum to its main gates. A city wall surrounds a roughly rectangular area of some 20 hectares. Several extramural buildings, cemeteries and roads constitute the suburban area.
PT: As constelações do norte, Ursa Maior e Ursa Menor, numa visão difusa através de uma nuvem passageira, vistas a partir das imponentes ruínas da Porta Sul da cidade Romana da Ammaia. A Cidade de Ammaia é indubitavelmente o mais importante vestígio da sua época existente na região do norte alentejano. Localizada em pleno Parque Natural da Serra de São Mamede, em São Salvador de Aramenha, no concelho de Marvão, a sua área central é constituída pela Quinta do Deão e pela Tapada da Aramenha, possuindo uma área de aproximadamente 25 ha.
Embora as suas ruínas tivessem sido classificadas como Monumento Nacional em 1949, estiveram abandonadas até finais de 1994. A partir desta data e com o aparecimento da Fundação Cidade de Ammaia vêm-se desenvolvendo todos os esforços no sentido de estudar e preservar o que resta desta importante cidade. Ammaia foi elevada a Civitas por volta do ano 44/45 d.C. tendo obtido o estatuto de Mvnicipivm ainda durante o séc. I d.C., no entanto apenas temos dados sobre o mesmo no reinado de Lúcio Vero, no ano de 166 d.C.
A Northern Starry Trail from inside the Southern Gate of the Roman City of Ammaia
EN: A Polar Startrail from inside the remaining ruins of the Southern Gate Tower of the Roman City of Ammaia.
The Gradual consolidation of Roman power led to the establishment of a substantial Roman town in the 1st century. Ammaia occupied up to 25 hectares, and with a population exceeding modern-day Marvão (5000-6000 inhabitants) Ammaia occupied the site of the present-day parish of São Salvador da Aramenha. The town flourished between the 1st century BCE and the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century CE. Roman Ammaia saw the development of improved irrigation and terracing across the Marvão mountain. Chestnut cultivation – Replacing the place dominance of oak is likely to have been introduced at this time. Much of the terracing and ancient watercourses on the mountain Marvão date from this era.
Limited excavations at Ammaia in the past two decades covering a mere 3,000 m2 (32.292 sq ft) of the town’s area – have revealed the success, provincial expanding town that included running water, a forum, baths, the bridge over the river Sever (near today’s ‘Old Bridge’), and monumental gates (one gate was removed to Castelo de Vide in the 18th century, yet sadly dynamited in 1890). The Alentejo region, meanwhile, was criss-crossed with efficient Roman roads, providing links to the wider Empire. Fine wares found at the site Ammaia suggest que Ammaia nobility had access to luxury glassware and jewelery, while archeology has Revealed that marble for the forum was imported from across the Empire. The high quality, for example, of the ‘Mosaic of the Muses’ from a Roman villa in nearby Monforte (4th century BCE) points to the abundant riches to be made to an Alentejo landowner in the Roman era. Sadly, many artifacts from Ammaia in particular the series of marble sculptures were removed during the 19th and 20th centuries, notably by the Anglo-Portuguese Robinson family. These items are now in collections such as those of the British Museum..
Many of the excavations were concentrated over the obvious ruins or where there was evidence of subterranean structures associated with a Roman presence. Discoveries include parts of a Roman city wall with towers and a gate on the south side, with residenctial buildings; a road; a monumental paved square; remains of a house in the location Quinta do Deão; parts of a public bath building; and a centrally-located forum with well-preserved temple podium, walls of a porticus and cryptoporticus. The town plan follows a regular rectangular layout organized along two main perpendicular street axes, linking the central forum to its main gates. A city wall surrounds a roughly rectangular area of some 20 hectares. Several extramural buildings, cemeteries and roads constitute the suburban area.
PT: Um vórtice de luz estrelar em torno da estrela Polar, a partir das imponentes ruínas da Porta Sul da cidade Romana da Ammaia. A Cidade de Ammaia é indubitavelmente o mais importante vestígio da sua época existente na região do norte alentejano. Localizada em pleno Parque Natural da Serra de São Mamede, em São Salvador de Aramenha, no concelho de Marvão, a sua área central é constituída pela Quinta do Deão e pela Tapada da Aramenha, possuindo uma área de aproximadamente 25 ha.
Embora as suas ruínas tivessem sido classificadas como Monumento Nacional em 1949, estiveram abandonadas até finais de 1994. A partir desta data e com o aparecimento da Fundação Cidade de Ammaia vêm-se desenvolvendo todos os esforços no sentido de estudar e preservar o que resta desta importante cidade. Ammaia foi elevada a Civitas por volta do ano 44/45 d.C. tendo obtido o estatuto de Mvnicipivm ainda durante o séc. I d.C., no entanto apenas temos dados sobre o mesmo no reinado de Lúcio Vero, no ano de 166 d.C.
Moon and Venus above the Ruins of Roman City Ammaia
EN: One of the remaining ruins from the Southern Gate Tower of the Roman City of Ammaia, in a cloudy moonlight scene. At the right side of the moon it is visible the planet Venus.
The Gradual consolidation of Roman power led to the establishment of a substantial Roman town in the 1st century. Ammaia occupied up to 25 hectares, and with a population exceeding modern-day Marvão (5000-6000 inhabitants) Ammaia occupied the site of the present-day parish of São Salvador da Aramenha. The town flourished between the 1st century BCE and the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century CE. Roman Ammaia saw the development of improved irrigation and terracing across the Marvão mountain. Chestnut cultivation – Replacing the place dominance of oak is likely to have been introduced at this time. Much of the terracing and ancient watercourses on the mountain Marvão date from this era.
Limited excavations at Ammaia in the past two decades covering a mere 3,000 m2 (32.292 sq ft) of the town’s area – have revealed the success, provincial expanding town that included running water, a forum, baths, the bridge over the river Sever (near today’s ‘Old Bridge’), and monumental gates (one gate was removed to Castelo de Vide in the 18th century, yet sadly dynamited in 1890). The Alentejo region, meanwhile, was criss-crossed with efficient Roman roads, providing links to the wider Empire. Fine wares found at the site Ammaia suggest que Ammaia nobility had access to luxury glassware and jewelery, while archeology has Revealed that marble for the forum was imported from across the Empire. The high quality, for example, of the ‘Mosaic of the Muses’ from a Roman villa in nearby Monforte (4th century BCE) points to the abundant riches to be made to an Alentejo landowner in the Roman era. Sadly, many artifacts from Ammaia in particular the series of marble sculptures were removed during the 19th and 20th centuries, notably by the Anglo-Portuguese Robinson family. These items are now in collections such as those of the British Museum..
Many of the excavations were concentrated over the obvious ruins or where there was evidence of subterranean structures associated with a Roman presence. Discoveries include parts of a Roman city wall with towers and a gate on the south side, with residenctial buildings; a road; a monumental paved square; remains of a house in the location Quinta do Deão; parts of a public bath building; and a centrally-located forum with well-preserved temple podium, walls of a porticus and cryptoporticus. The town plan follows a regular rectangular layout organized along two main perpendicular street axes, linking the central forum to its main gates. A city wall surrounds a roughly rectangular area of some 20 hectares. Several extramural buildings, cemeteries and roads constitute the suburban area.
PT: Uma noite de luar envolta na neblina que circunda as importantes e imponentes ruínas da Porta Sul da cidade Romana da Ammaia. Logo abaixo da Lua, é ainda possível ver o brilho arrastado do planeta Vénus. A Cidade de Ammaia é indubitavelmente o mais importante vestígio da sua época existente na região do norte alentejano. Localizada em pleno Parque Natural da Serra de São Mamede, em São Salvador de Aramenha, no concelho de Marvão, a sua área central é constituída pela Quinta do Deão e pela Tapada da Aramenha, possuindo uma área de aproximadamente 25 ha.
Embora as suas ruínas tivessem sido classificadas como Monumento Nacional em 1949, estiveram abandonadas até finais de 1994. A partir desta data e com o aparecimento da Fundação Cidade de Ammaia vêm-se desenvolvendo todos os esforços no sentido de estudar e preservar o que resta desta importante cidade. Ammaia foi elevada a Civitas por volta do ano 44/45 d.C. tendo obtido o estatuto de Mvnicipivm ainda durante o séc. I d.C., no entanto apenas temos dados sobre o mesmo no reinado de Lúcio Vero, no ano de 166 d.C.
The Monumental Paved Square from Roman City of Ammaia
EN: One of the remaining ruins from the monumental paved square of the Roman City of Ammaia, in a cloudy moonlight scene. Venus is the bright diffuse light below the right side of the moon.
The Gradual consolidation of Roman power led to the establishment of a substantial Roman town in the 1st century. Ammaia occupied up to 25 hectares, and with a population exceeding modern-day Marvão (5000-6000 inhabitants) Ammaia occupied the site of the present-day parish of São Salvador da Aramenha. The town flourished between the 1st century BCE and the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century CE. Roman Ammaia saw the development of improved irrigation and terracing across the Marvão mountain. Chestnut cultivation – Replacing the place dominance of oak is likely to have been introduced at this time. Much of the terracing and ancient watercourses on the mountain Marvão date from this era.
Limited excavations at Ammaia in the past two decades covering a mere 3,000 m2 (32.292 sq ft) of the town’s area – have revealed the success, provincial expanding town that included running water, a forum, baths, the bridge over the river Sever (near today’s ‘Old Bridge’), and monumental gates (one gate was removed to Castelo de Vide in the 18th century, yet sadly dynamited in 1890). The Alentejo region, meanwhile, was criss-crossed with efficient Roman roads, providing links to the wider Empire. Fine wares found at the site Ammaia suggest que Ammaia nobility had access to luxury glassware and jewelery, while archeology has Revealed that marble for the forum was imported from across the Empire. The high quality, for example, of the ‘Mosaic of the Muses’ from a Roman villa in nearby Monforte (4th century BCE) points to the abundant riches to be made to an Alentejo landowner in the Roman era. Sadly, many artifacts from Ammaia in particular the series of marble sculptures were removed during the 19th and 20th centuries, notably by the Anglo-Portuguese Robinson family. These items are now in collections such as those of the British Museum..
Many of the excavations were concentrated over the obvious ruins or where there was evidence of subterranean structures associated with a Roman presence. Discoveries include parts of a Roman city wall with towers and a gate on the south side, with residenctial buildings; a road; a monumental paved square; remains of a house in the location Quinta do Deão; parts of a public bath building; and a centrally-located forum with well-preserved temple podium, walls of a porticus and cryptoporticus. The town plan follows a regular rectangular layout organized along two main perpendicular street axes, linking the central forum to its main gates. A city wall surrounds a roughly rectangular area of some 20 hectares. Several extramural buildings, cemeteries and roads constitute the suburban area.
PT: Uma noite de luar envolta na neblina que circunda as imponentes ruínas da praça pública pavimentada com blocos de granito, da cidade Romana da Ammaia. À direita da Lua, é possível ver o brilho difuso do planeta Vénus. A Cidade de Ammaia é indubitavelmente o mais importante vestígio da sua época existente na região do norte alentejano. Localizada em pleno Parque Natural da Serra de São Mamede, em São Salvador de Aramenha, no concelho de Marvão, a sua área central é constituída pela Quinta do Deão e pela Tapada da Aramenha, possuindo uma área de aproximadamente 25 ha.
Embora as suas ruínas tivessem sido classificadas como Monumento Nacional em 1949, estiveram abandonadas até finais de 1994. A partir desta data e com o aparecimento da Fundação Cidade de Ammaia vêm-se desenvolvendo todos os esforços no sentido de estudar e preservar o que resta desta importante cidade. Ammaia foi elevada a Civitas por volta do ano 44/45 d.C. tendo obtido o estatuto de Mvnicipivm ainda durante o séc. I d.C., no entanto apenas temos dados sobre o mesmo no reinado de Lúcio Vero, no ano de 166 d.C.
The Starry Sky from Roman City of Ammaia
EN: One of the remaining ruins from the Southern Gate Tower of the Roman City of Ammaia, in a cloudy moonlight scene.
The Gradual consolidation of Roman power led to the establishment of a substantial Roman town in the 1st century. Ammaia occupied up to 25 hectares, and with a population exceeding modern-day Marvão (5000-6000 inhabitants) Ammaia occupied the site of the present-day parish of São Salvador da Aramenha. The town flourished between the 1st century BCE and the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century CE. Roman Ammaia saw the development of improved irrigation and terracing across the Marvão mountain. Chestnut cultivation – Replacing the place dominance of oak is likely to have been introduced at this time. Much of the terracing and ancient watercourses on the mountain Marvão date from this era.
Limited excavations at Ammaia in the past two decades covering a mere 3,000 m2 (32.292 sq ft) of the town’s area – have revealed the success, provincial expanding town that included running water, a forum, baths, the bridge over the river Sever (near today’s ‘Old Bridge’), and monumental gates (one gate was removed to Castelo de Vide in the 18th century, yet sadly dynamited in 1890). The Alentejo region, meanwhile, was criss-crossed with efficient Roman roads, providing links to the wider Empire. Fine wares found at the site Ammaia suggest que Ammaia nobility had access to luxury glassware and jewelery, while archeology has Revealed that marble for the forum was imported from across the Empire. The high quality, for example, of the ‘Mosaic of the Muses’ from a Roman villa in nearby Monforte (4th century BCE) points to the abundant riches to be made to an Alentejo landowner in the Roman era. Sadly, many artifacts from Ammaia in particular the series of marble sculptures were removed during the 19th and 20th centuries, notably by the Anglo-Portuguese Robinson family. These items are now in collections such as those of the British Museum..
Many of the excavations were concentrated over the obvious ruins or where there was evidence of subterranean structures associated with a Roman presence. Discoveries include parts of a Roman city wall with towers and a gate on the south side, with residenctial buildings; a road; a monumental paved square; remains of a house in the location Quinta do Deão; parts of a public bath building; and a centrally-located forum with well-preserved temple podium, walls of a porticus and cryptoporticus. The town plan follows a regular rectangular layout organized along two main perpendicular street axes, linking the central forum to its main gates. A city wall surrounds a roughly rectangular area of some 20 hectares. Several extramural buildings, cemeteries and roads constitute the suburban area.
PT: Uma noite de luar envolta na neblina que circunda as importantes e imponentes ruínas da Porta Sul da cidade Romana da Ammaia. A Cidade de Ammaia é indubitavelmente o mais importante vestígio da sua época existente na região do norte alentejano. Localizada em pleno Parque Natural da Serra de São Mamede, em São Salvador de Aramenha, no concelho de Marvão, a sua área central é constituída pela Quinta do Deão e pela Tapada da Aramenha, possuindo uma área de aproximadamente 25 ha.
Embora as suas ruínas tivessem sido classificadas como Monumento Nacional em 1949, estiveram abandonadas até finais de 1994. A partir desta data e com o aparecimento da Fundação Cidade de Ammaia vêm-se desenvolvendo todos os esforços no sentido de estudar e preservar o que resta desta importante cidade. Ammaia foi elevada a Civitas por volta do ano 44/45 d.C. tendo obtido o estatuto de Mvnicipivm ainda durante o séc. I d.C., no entanto apenas temos dados sobre o mesmo no reinado de Lúcio Vero, no ano de 166 d.C.
ISS Crossing the Skies of the Roman City Ammaia
EN: One of the remaining ruins from the Southern Gate Tower of the Roman City of Ammaia, in a cloudy moonlight scene, during the passage of the International Space Station above the skies. At the right side of the moon it is visible the planet Venus.
The Gradual consolidation of Roman power led to the establishment of a substantial Roman town in the 1st century. Ammaia occupied up to 25 hectares, and with a population exceeding modern-day Marvão (5000-6000 inhabitants) Ammaia occupied the site of the present-day parish of São Salvador da Aramenha. The town flourished between the 1st century BCE and the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century CE. Roman Ammaia saw the development of improved irrigation and terracing across the Marvão mountain. Chestnut cultivation – Replacing the place dominance of oak is likely to have been introduced at this time. Much of the terracing and ancient watercourses on the mountain Marvão date from this era.
Limited excavations at Ammaia in the past two decades covering a mere 3,000 m2 (32.292 sq ft) of the town’s area – have revealed the success, provincial expanding town that included running water, a forum, baths, the bridge over the river Sever (near today’s ‘Old Bridge’), and monumental gates (one gate was removed to Castelo de Vide in the 18th century, yet sadly dynamited in 1890). The Alentejo region, meanwhile, was criss-crossed with efficient Roman roads, providing links to the wider Empire. Fine wares found at the site Ammaia suggest que Ammaia nobility had access to luxury glassware and jewelery, while archeology has Revealed that marble for the forum was imported from across the Empire. The high quality, for example, of the ‘Mosaic of the Muses’ from a Roman villa in nearby Monforte (4th century BCE) points to the abundant riches to be made to an Alentejo landowner in the Roman era. Sadly, many artifacts from Ammaia in particular the series of marble sculptures were removed during the 19th and 20th centuries, notably by the Anglo-Portuguese Robinson family. These items are now in collections such as those of the British Museum..
Many of the excavations were concentrated over the obvious ruins or where there was evidence of subterranean structures associated with a Roman presence. Discoveries include parts of a Roman city wall with towers and a gate on the south side, with residenctial buildings; a road; a monumental paved square; remains of a house in the location Quinta do Deão; parts of a public bath building; and a centrally-located forum with well-preserved temple podium, walls of a porticus and cryptoporticus. The town plan follows a regular rectangular layout organized along two main perpendicular street axes, linking the central forum to its main gates. A city wall surrounds a roughly rectangular area of some 20 hectares. Several extramural buildings, cemeteries and roads constitute the suburban area.
PT: Uma noite de luar envolta na neblina que circunda as importantes e imponentes ruínas da Porta Sul da cidade Romana da Ammaia, enquanto a Estação Espacial Internacional atravessa os céus da região. Logo abaixo da Lua, é ainda possível ver o brilho arrastado do planeta Vénus. A Cidade de Ammaia é indubitavelmente o mais importante vestígio da sua época existente na região do norte alentejano. Localizada em pleno Parque Natural da Serra de São Mamede, em São Salvador de Aramenha, no concelho de Marvão, a sua área central é constituída pela Quinta do Deão e pela Tapada da Aramenha, possuindo uma área de aproximadamente 25 ha.
Embora as suas ruínas tivessem sido classificadas como Monumento Nacional em 1949, estiveram abandonadas até finais de 1994. A partir desta data e com o aparecimento da Fundação Cidade de Ammaia vêm-se desenvolvendo todos os esforços no sentido de estudar e preservar o que resta desta importante cidade. Ammaia foi elevada a Civitas por volta do ano 44/45 d.C. tendo obtido o estatuto de Mvnicipivm ainda durante o séc. I d.C., no entanto apenas temos dados sobre o mesmo no reinado de Lúcio Vero, no ano de 166 d.C.
Ruins from the Roman City of Ammaia
EN: One of the remaining ruins from the Southern Gate Tower of the Roman City of Ammaia, in a cloudy moonlight scene.
The Gradual consolidation of Roman power led to the establishment of a substantial Roman town in the 1st century. Ammaia occupied up to 25 hectares, and with a population exceeding modern-day Marvão (5000-6000 inhabitants) Ammaia occupied the site of the present-day parish of São Salvador da Aramenha. The town flourished between the 1st century BCE and the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century CE. Roman Ammaia saw the development of improved irrigation and terracing across the Marvão mountain. Chestnut cultivation – Replacing the place dominance of oak is likely to have been introduced at this time. Much of the terracing and ancient watercourses on the mountain Marvão date from this era.
Limited excavations at Ammaia in the past two decades covering a mere 3,000 m2 (32.292 sq ft) of the town’s area – have revealed the success, provincial expanding town that included running water, a forum, baths, the bridge over the river Sever (near today’s ‘Old Bridge’), and monumental gates (one gate was removed to Castelo de Vide in the 18th century, yet sadly dynamited in 1890). The Alentejo region, meanwhile, was criss-crossed with efficient Roman roads, providing links to the wider Empire. Fine wares found at the site Ammaia suggest que Ammaia nobility had access to luxury glassware and jewelery, while archeology has Revealed that marble for the forum was imported from across the Empire. The high quality, for example, of the ‘Mosaic of the Muses’ from a Roman villa in nearby Monforte (4th century BCE) points to the abundant riches to be made to an Alentejo landowner in the Roman era. Sadly, many artifacts from Ammaia in particular the series of marble sculptures were removed during the 19th and 20th centuries, notably by the Anglo-Portuguese Robinson family. These items are now in collections such as those of the British Museum..
Many of the excavations were concentrated over the obvious ruins or where there was evidence of subterranean structures associated with a Roman presence. Discoveries include parts of a Roman city wall with towers and a gate on the south side, with residenctial buildings; a road; a monumental paved square; remains of a house in the location Quinta do Deão; parts of a public bath building; and a centrally-located forum with well-preserved temple podium, walls of a porticus and cryptoporticus. The town plan follows a regular rectangular layout organized along two main perpendicular street axes, linking the central forum to its main gates. A city wall surrounds a roughly rectangular area of some 20 hectares. Several extramural buildings, cemeteries and roads constitute the suburban area.
PT: Uma noite de luar envolta na neblina que circunda as importantes e imponentes ruínas da Porta Sul da cidade Romana da Ammaia. A Cidade de Ammaia é indubitavelmente o mais importante vestígio da sua época existente na região do norte alentejano. Localizada em pleno Parque Natural da Serra de São Mamede, em São Salvador de Aramenha, no concelho de Marvão, a sua área central é constituída pela Quinta do Deão e pela Tapada da Aramenha, possuindo uma área de aproximadamente 25 ha.
Embora as suas ruínas tivessem sido classificadas como Monumento Nacional em 1949, estiveram abandonadas até finais de 1994. A partir desta data e com o aparecimento da Fundação Cidade de Ammaia vêm-se desenvolvendo todos os esforços no sentido de estudar e preservar o que resta desta importante cidade. Ammaia foi elevada a Civitas por volta do ano 44/45 d.C. tendo obtido o estatuto de Mvnicipivm ainda durante o séc. I d.C., no entanto apenas temos dados sobre o mesmo no reinado de Lúcio Vero, no ano de 166 d.C.
Olive Trees from the Universe
EN: The Milky Way, our own galaxy as seen from Earth and Dark Sky® Alqueva Reserve, above an olive tree in a tonal nuance that characterizes different nights of the year, allowing to show that the same celestial object is never seen in the same way, without losing the particular beauty that characterizes it and makes us dreaming with the magic and charm of a scenario under the stars | Mourão and Barrancos, Sky of Dark Sky® Alqueva Reserve
PT: A Via Láctea, a nossa própria galáxia vista a partir da Terra e da Reserva Dark Sky® Alqueva, acima de uma oliveira, com as nuances tonais que caracterizam as diferentes noites do ano, permitindo que o mesmo objecto celeste nunca seja visto da mesma forma, sem nunca perder a particular beleza que o caracteriza e nos faz sonhar com a magia e encanto de um cenário à luz das estrelas | Mourão e Barrancos, Céu da Reserva Dark Sky® Alqueva
Olive Trees and Milky Way above Noudar Park
EN: The Milky Way above the Noudar Park | Sky of Barrancos
PT: A Via Láctea acima do Parque de Noudar | Céu de Barrancos
Esporão – A Land of Vineyards in a Starry Sky
EN: Being one of the country’s largest wine producers, and also a huge attraction for the Wine Tourism the Esporão homestead displays a plantation with over 450 hectares of vineyards. Endless fields of grape paralely dotted by an endless veil of stars, only supplanted by the overwhelming presence of the Milky Way | Sky of Reguengos de Monsaraz
PT: Sendo um dos maiores produtores de vinho do país, e uma grande atracção para o Enoturismo, a Herdade do Esporão exibe uma plantação com mais 450 hectares de vinha. Campos infindáveis de uva, paralelamente salpicados por um manto infindável de estrelas, unicamente suplantado pela a arrebatadora presença da Via Látea | Céu de Reguengos de Monsaraz
The Cult of Fertility
EN: Crescent moon against a twilight in Menhir Rocha dos Namorados, a natural granite outcrop mushroom-shaped, where single women throw back a stone which aims to fall on top of it, a cult related to fertility | Sky of São Pedro do Corral
PT: Lua crescente de um crepúsculo no Menir da Rocha dos Namorados, um afloramento natural de granito em forma de cogumelo, onde as mulheres solteiras lançam de costas uma pedra que tem por objectivo cair em cima do mesmo, num culto relacionado com a fecundidade | Céu de São Pedro do Corval
A moonlit scene where stone, sand, and water merge into a perfect combination
EN: The beauty of inhospitable landscape, a scene in the moonlight where stone, sand, and water merge into a perfect combination to celebrate the union between the starry Sky and the damp Earth of Alqueva Lake | Sky of Mourão
PT: Paisagem inospitamente bela, num cenário à luz do luar onde pedra, ar e água, se fundem numa combinação perfeita para celebrar a união entre o Céu estrelado e a Terra húmida do lago Alqueva | Céu de Mourão
