Two weeks ago I shared a night image from the famous Kuwohi (formerly Clingmans Dome) tower, which was a more classical view of that scene. This week I wanted to share something completely different. As I was roaming around the park earlier in the summer, I happened to stop by the Charles A Webb overlook on the North Carolina side and was admiring the view when it occurred to me that I should see what – if anything – would line up with Kuwohi from that vantage point. To my surprise, and joy, it turns out the Eagle Nebula sets almost directly behind the tower, so I watched the weather and returned in August to capture the whole scene. As I was shooting the mountain, I happened to notice through my viewfinder that I could see someone with a flashlight walking around on the tower, and upon looking back through my pictures, sure enough, I had captured the light. In this image it almost looks like a star on the left side of the observation tower, but that is a person with a light. With that context, consider how small we are in comparison to the galaxy that exists just outside of what our eyes can see.
What I love about these deepspace landscapes (or deepscapes as some people call them) is just that – it shows us how really small we are. This particular image was captured using a 300mm lens, looking from the Charles A Webb Overlook to the Kuwohi tower, roughly 5.5 miles away as the crow flies. The moon in this scene and at this focal length would be 4 or 5 times larger in appearance then the tower, but still quite small, especially in comparison to everything else! It’s kind of wild when you think about it!
More next week!
–Dan Thompson