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Spring Milky Way In the spring, the orientation of the Earth is such that the Milky Way lies low on the horizon. This picture was taken early enough in the evening that the Milky Way hadn't yet set, but the angle it makes with the horizons show its eventual destination. I packed up and set out on a sunny March day to try to take this picture (part of a seasonal project). The forecast was for possible clouds in the west, so I headed east into Wisconsin, looking for a dark place away from the lights of civilization. I could see the leading edge of cloud cover drifting in behind me, so I continued driving, hoping to outdistance it. No matter how fast or in what direction I drove, the clouds seemed to gain on me. I eventually ran out of road when I encountered Lake Superior in Michigan's upper peninsula. The state park was closed for the winter, but there are some winter activities that carry on, such as skiing and snowmobiling. This is thickly forested area, and I had difficulty finding a place that had an open view of the sky and was also out of view of any resort lighting. I eventually found an access to the Lake Superior shoreline where I could set up my equipment. The shoreline itself was snow-covered and filled with mountains of ice floes that had piled up from the great lake; a network of snowmobile trails had formed though them. I competed for the night with the headlights of these noisy machines. In time however, the traffic subsided and I was able to make a series of photos that were later combined into this mosaic. The deep twilight colors from sunset are scattered by a fog over the lake, while the subtle greenish glow from distant street lighting shows to the south.
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