Photographing the Milky Way from locations with varying levels of light pollution

You have probably already seen some spectacular photographs of the Milky Way taken from the Earth's surface.

Sedna, the mysterious reddish world that takes more than 11,400 years to orbit the Sun
'Immortal Suns', a documentary about stars that feed on dark matter

Of course, if you look up at the sky in your city any night, you'll realize that on many days it's even difficult to see the stars. Even on clear skies, light pollution (the excess of artificial light generated in populated areas, especially from streetlights) and air pollution (the pollution in the air that sometimes creates those peculiar smog patches over cities) make it impossible to see the Milky Way from many places.

I love stargazing, but I must admit that I didn't see the Milky Way with my own eyes until I was an adult. It was an unforgettable experience I had in a village in the province of Lugo. It was a cold summer night, and I was walking back with some friends to a campsite. I looked up and was met with that astronomical spectacle. I must have been 25 or 26 years old at the time. Now I'm 49, and I haven't seen the Milky Way since.

Of course, the best option for viewing the Milky Way is to go to rural and sparsely populated areas, because those are the places with the least light and atmospheric pollution. Two weeks ago, Ian Lauer, an astronomer and astrophotography enthusiast, published an interesting video showing how to photograph the Milky Way, demonstrating how our galaxy looks from different locations in the United States:

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Main photo: Dns Dgn.