Cold Night on the Yellowstone

Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year is the largest international competition of its kind. Organised by the Royal Observatory Greenwich and sponsored by Insight Investment, the competition receives entries from photographers all around the world. It annually showcases the best space photography from a global community of astrophotographers. In mid-March, shortly after the core of our Milky Way galaxy becomes visible above the horizon, it rises in the final hours of darkness before dawn. I shot this panorama scene while night-time fog hung low over riverside cottonwood trees and the distant mountains of the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness glowed from the light of countless stars. I felt that I was able to capture a connectedness between this world and the one above, a hint of changing seasons, and a sense that nature continues to provide countless wonders for all willing to stop and look. I stayed on the banks of the Yellowstone River in Montana long after I finished shooting, remaining until night faded to day and the calls of coyotes gave way to the songs of flying geese. I am grateful to live in such a beautiful place. Jake Mosher