Yosemite Falls and star trails, night sky time exposure of Yosemite Falls waterfall in full spring flow, with star trails arcing through the night sky, Yosemite National Park, California

Star trails appear over Yosemite Falls in this 40 minute time exposure, Yosemite Valley, California.

Mobius Arch in the Alabama Hills, seen here at night with swirling star trails formed in the sky above due to a long time exposure, Alabama Hills Recreational Area

Mobius Arch In The Alabama Hills, Alabama Hills Recreational Area

Racetrack sailing stone and star trails.  A sliding rock of the Racetrack Playa. The sliding rocks, or sailing stones, move across the mud flats of the Racetrack Playa, leaving trails behind in the mud. The explanation for their movement is not known with certainty, but many believe wind pushes the rocks over wet and perhaps icy mud in winter, Death Valley National Park, California

Racetrack Sailing Stone And Star Trails, Racetrack Playa

The Milky Way galaxy arches over Arch Rock on a clear evening in Joshua Tree National Park

The Milky Way galaxy arcs over Arch Rock in Joshua Tree National Park.

Yosemite Falls by moonlight, reflected in a springtime pool in Cooks Meadow. A lunar rainbow (moonbow) can be seen above the lower section of Yosemite Falls.  Star trails appear in the night sky. Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California

Yosemite Falls at night with faint lunar rainbow, Yosemite National Park.

The Milky Way galaxy arcs above Arch Rock, panoramic photograph, cylindrical projection, Joshua Tree National Park, California

The Milky Way galaxy arcs above Arch Rock in Joshua Tree National Park in this high resoluiton panoramic photograph.

Star trails and Arch Rock. Polaris, the North Star, is at the center of the circular arc star trails as they pass above this natural stone archway in Joshua Tree National Park, Alabama Hills Recreational Area

Star Trails And Arch Rock, Alabama Hills Recreational Area

The Moon.  Full Moon. So Epic, Earth Orbit, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, The Universe

The Full Moon. Time to howl.

International Space Station flys over Death Valley shortly after sunset, Earth Orbit, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, The Universe

The International Space Station flys over Death Valley shortly after sunset.

The Milky Way on a clear night

The Milky Way Galaxy, galactic center rising over Death Valley.

Star trails and Arch Rock.  Polaris, the North Star, is at the center of the circular arc star trails as they pass above this natural stone archway in Joshua Tree National Park

Star trails and Arch Rock, Joshua Tree National Park.

Racetrack sailing stone and Milky Way, at night. A sliding rock of the Racetrack Playa. The sliding rocks, or sailing stones, move across the mud flats of the Racetrack Playa, leaving trails behind in the mud. The explanation for their movement is not known with certainty, but many believe wind pushes the rocks over wet and perhaps icy mud in winter, Death Valley National Park, California

Racetrack Sailing Stone And Milky Way, Racetrack Playa

Racetrack sailing stone and star trails.  A sliding rock of the Racetrack Playa. The sliding rocks, or sailing stones, move across the mud flats of the Racetrack Playa, leaving trails behind in the mud. The explanation for their movement is not known with certainty, but many believe wind pushes the rocks over wet and perhaps icy mud in winter, Death Valley National Park, California

Racetrack Sailing Stone And Star Trails, Racetrack Playa

Mobius Arch and stars at night, Alabama Hills, California, Alabama Hills Recreational Area

Mobius Arch And Stars At Night, Alabama Hills Recreational Area

Boulders and stars, moonlight in Joshua Tree National Park. The moon gently lights unusual boulder formations at Jumbo Rocks in Joshua Tree National Park, California

Boulders And Stars, Joshua Tree National Park

Star trails, rotating around the North Star (Polaris), seen from Death Valley

Star trails, rotating around the North Star (Polaris), seen from Death Valley.

Joshua tree, moonlit night.  The Joshua Tree is a species of yucca common in the lower Colorado desert and upper Mojave desert ecosystems, Yucca brevifolia, Joshua Tree National Park, California

Joshua Tree at night with full moon.

The Milky Way rises in the sky above the Toadstool Hoodoos near the Paria Rimrocks.  Rimrock Hoodoos, Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument, Utah

Milky Way and Toadstool Hoodoos, Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument.

The Milky Way galaxy above Arch Rock, Joshua Tree National Park, night star field exposure

The Milky Way galaxy echoes the shape of Arch Rock in Joshua Tree National Park in this, night-time star field exposure.

Star trails and alpenglow on the Sierra Nevada, Paiute Peak, before sunrise, reflected in North Lake in the Sierra Nevada, Bishop Creek Canyon Sierra Nevada Mountains

Star trails and alpenglow on the Sierra Nevada, North Lake, Bishop.

Joshua trees and star trails, moonlit night. The Joshua Tree is a species of yucca common in the lower Colorado desert and upper Mojave desert ecosystems, Yucca brevifolia, Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Trees And Star Trails, Joshua Tree National Park

The Milky Way galaxy arcs over Arch Rock on a clear evening in Joshua Tree National Park

Arch Rock and Milky Way, Joshua Tree National Park.

The Milky Way galaxy above Arch Rock, Joshua Tree National Park, night star field exposure

The Milky Way Galaxy Above Arch Rock, Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua tree and stars, moonlit night. The Joshua Tree is a species of yucca common in the lower Colorado desert and upper Mojave desert ecosystems, Yucca brevifolia, Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree And Stars, Joshua Tree National Park

Lunar eclipse sequence, showing total eclipse (left) through full moon (right).  While the moon lies in the full shadow of the earth (umbra) it receives only faint, red-tinged light refracted through the Earth's atmosphere.  As the moon passes into the penumbra it receives increasing amounts of direct sunlight, eventually leaving the shadow of the Earth altogether.  August 28, 2007, Earth Orbit, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, The Universe

A composite panorama showing the sequence of a lunar eclipse from total eclipse (left) through full moon (right).

Mobius Arch in the Alabama Hills, seen here at night with swirling star trails formed in the sky above due to a long time exposure, Alabama Hills Recreational Area

Mobius Arch In The Alabama Hills, Alabama Hills Recreational Area

The Milky Way galaxy arches over Arch Rock on a clear evening in Joshua Tree National Park

Milky Way And Arch Rock At Night, Joshua Tree National Park

Zodiacal light and Milky Way over Death Valley.  Zodiacal light is a faint diffuse light seen along the plane of the ecliptic in the vicinity of the setting or rising sun, caused by sunlight scattered off space dust in the zodiacal cloud, Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park, California

Zodiacal light and Milky Way over Death Valley