Stunning Astrophotos: Kilimanjaro at Night

By Nancy Atkinson - January 9, 2014 at 12:02 PM UTC | Observing
kilamanjaro.jpg

You might find yourself humming Paul Simon's "

Under African Skies

" after seeing these stunning images!

The World At Night

photographer Babak Tafreshi has just returned from a trip to Kenya and has amassed

a gorgeous collection of astrophotography

showing Mt. Kilimanjaro by night (and some in the day, as well). Below you can see a panoramic view of Kilimanjaro in the moonlight, flanked by giraffes (can you spot the zebra, too?) and starry skies.

"His path was marked by the stars in the southern hemisphere and he walked his days under African skies..."

[caption id="attachment_107929" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

Giraffes and acacia trees against the spectacular moonlit backdrop of Mount Kilimanjaro, as seen from Amboseli National Park, Kenya. The head of a zebra is also visible on the left. The main peak of Kilimanjaro is Kibo that reaches 5,895 m (19,341 ft). The smaller peak is Mawenzi at 5,149 m (16,893 ft) and meaning the moon in Swahili. Credit and copyright: Babak A. Tafreshi.[/caption]

See more great images from Babak's trip at the

Dream Views website here.

Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group or send us your images by email (this means you're giving us permission to post them). Please explain what's in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com