The refracted rays of the Moon, just below the local horizon, illuminate Banner Peak in the Ansel Adams Wilderness as the Milky Way rises majestically above the Eastern Sierra. This photo appears in my photo essay The Tale of a Thousand Islands.
When Jupiter and Saturn last raced across the sky in tandem, Galileo had yet to publish his famous Dialogo in which he explained the motion of planets around a central Sun. This week, the Great Conjunction of 2020 takes us back to the roots of the Scientific Revolution, when curiosity was once again rekindled in mankind. With the juxtaposition of the crescent Moon this evening, a perfect Malibu sunset was the obvious choice for a setting befitting a millennial celestial event.
Once again, the hour is late, and the day hikers are well on their way back to their cars. The glaringly bright sunlight of only a moment ago is now shepherded into the canyon beyond the lake, lighting the scene like an expert gaffer. Mesmerized by the light and by the calmness of the lake, I become aware of a contradiction, an impatience belying the tranquility of the scene. As at many other alpine lakes, the dramatis personae of the landscape includes the creek bursting from the lake, eager to be on its way, heedless of its boisterous passage. Photographed July 2016.
