travelling-blogger

comments

They are pictures that seem almost impossible to take - the Milky Way glowing over the haunting beauty of America's National Parks.

But one photographer has managed to capture the immense majesty of the star-studded night sky, with all the detail of the Milky Way as it stretches above some of America's most iconic landscapes.

Astrophotographer Dave Lane, 58, has been capturing images of disk shaped galaxy - which cannot be distinguished properly with the naked eye - since early 2011 and has been obsessed with snapping the phenomenon ever since.  

The towering rock formations in Arches National Park, Utah, stand tall below the disk-shaped galaxy that appears like a rainbow of the night

The iridescent beauty of the Milky Way is reflected in Jenney Lake in a spectacular photo taken at Yellowstone National Park

In what looks like rainbow of iridescent stars arched across the night sky, one photograph shows the glowing band looming over a piping hot spring in Yellowstone.

And another depicts an unwitting bison grazing below an explosion of luminous colours. 

According to Dave, capturing these images can be a notoriously tricky process, having spent weeks under the stars taking hundreds of shots in some cases.

Toadstool rocks, in Page, Arizona, are perfectly framed by the Milky Way and a golden glow at sunrise

However Dave, who is a part time antiques dealer, has travelled through landscapes across North America to find the perfect spot, with each image taking about 30-40 hours to produce. 

He said: 'When capturing the Milky Way, I want it to be as beautiful and as true to life as I possibly can regardless of the time required.

'In the end I want it to look like a fantastic watercolour painting that can fill the eye with wonder.

'I've always loved the sky and the stars twinkling overhead.

Fish Creek Falls, at Steamboat Springs in Colorado, are illuminated y the bright night sky, with the detail of the river and trees also pickedout using a special technique when the pictures are processed

An unwitting bison grazes below the spectacular night sky, with an explosion of luminous colours above its head

Agua Canyon in Bryce Canyon National Park, South West Utah, is similarly brought to life with splashes of colour from the Milky Way and even some shooting stars flashing across the sky

'I am forever blown away looking up or upon seeing astro images. I could spend hours imagining the countless stars that exist above.'

The Milky Way is a galaxy which contains between 100 and 400 billion stars..

It is thought to be around 120,000 light-years in diameter and is known for its disk shaped structure.