By Michael Reichmann

Milky Way #2
Pentax 645z with 35mm lens @ f/4.5
122 seconds at ISO 12,800
One of the most beautiful sights in the night sky is the Milky Way, the band of stars and dust lanes that stretches from horizon to horizon. Our ancestors could always see and wonder at it on any clear night. But with the invention of electric light our skies in cities, towns and even villages are no longer dark enough to see our galaxy – the Milky Way. The problem is called "light pollution".  Only far out in the country is the Milky Way visible, and even then if there is a city or town without about 50 miles the air glow near the horizon will mask some of the star lane's beauty.
I was in an astronomy store the other day, and ahead of me was a man buying a fairly expensive telescope rig. He said that he lived in the city and was mainly interested in observing and photographing the planets. I asked him if he had any interest in deep-sky objects, and his reply was telling. " I live in the ci...