above the horizon. The sky is always
brightest at the horizon, even at night. It
gets darker as you look higher in the sky.
By shooting when the galactic center has
an altitude of 10 degrees or more, you
can make this relatively dim object pop
against a dark background.
As I mentioned above, the angle of
rising and setting of the galactic center
is fixed at any particular location, but the
time of rising and setting varies through-
out the year. The galactic center is only
10 degrees or more above the horizon
during the period between astronomical
dusk and dawn for certain months of the
year. In Colorado and Utah, for exam-
ple, the Milky Way season extends from
about March 1 to Oct. 1. Note that on
March 1, you’ll only have about 45 min-
utes to an hour between the time when the
galactic center rises above 10 degrees and
astronomical dawn. On Oct. 1, you have
about the same amount of time between
astronomical dusk and the time when the
galactic center sets below 10 degrees.
There’s a two-week shoulder season on
either side of those dates when the win-
dow of opportunity is shorter, but you
can still get a few shots if you’re quick.
The direction of the galactic center
and the best time of night to shoot varies
by season. In the spring, at mid-north-
ern latitudes, you’ll want to shoot right
before astronomical dawn, when the
galactic center is rising to the southeast.
In mid-summer, you can shoot for most
of the night, looking southeast at astro-
nomical dusk, south around midnight,
and southwest at astronomical dawn. In
the fall, you can only shoot the galactic
center if you’re looking southwest just
after astronomical dusk.
The Milky Way season is longer as
you go south and shorter as you go north.
For example, in Big Bend National Park,
Texas, the Milky Way season runs from
Milky Way over Bear Lake, Rocky
Mountain National Park, Colorado.
Shot at 2 a.m. on July 3, 2014,
when the azimuth of the galactic
center was 206 degrees and the
altitude was 16 degrees. The
bearing of Longs Peak (the farthest
left major peak) is 158 degrees.
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