A Dark Sky Over Death Valley

I have been a fan of manned space flight and, consequently, the cosmos since I was in elementary school. I can remember being at school when I was in the 1st through 5th grades and we would watch the launches of the Mercury and Gemini missions all day. There was nothing more exciting to me than watching the challenge of man reaching out for the moon and beyond. At one time I could tell you the names of all the constellations and stars and planets. I could tell you their Latin and Arabic and English names. I could tell you their locations in the skies by the season of the year and the hour of the night. I didn't need a calendar to know when there would be a new or full moon. I also knew the names of the various moons as they occured during the year. I lived and breathed the cosmos. Talk abut having your head in the clouds!

Anyway . . . several months ago, Robert Hutton turned me on to a website (Astronomy Picture of the Day Archive) that has mostly pictures of the heavens. Man, I was in hog heaven (no pun intended)!! I have loved this website as I am able to feed my interest in space and things that occur "out there". The best thing is the explaination from the photographer that comes with the photo.

I recently saw one photo entitled A Dark Sky Over Death Valley. I have been trying for over three weeks to get in touch with the photographer to see if I could get a print. It is a panoramic view of Death Valley, Californa taken at night. The photographer is an employee of the National Parks Service. Once I got ahold of him he referred me to the person who would provide the print. We spoke on the phone earlier today and he will be getting back with me on prices and formats. I can hardly wait. Who knows, maybe I'll be going to see Caleb soon.