Starry Winter Night Glows Above Thar Desert

The photographers campsite glows over the white salt in the Thar Desert. This image was taken on Jan. 27, 2011. (Image credit: Ajay Talwar / The World at Night)

Astrophotographer Ajay Talwar camped out in a tent in the Thar Desert in northwestern India to get this stunning photo of a starry winter night.

In the image, the star Sirius is visible as a bright spot near the horizon. The constellations Orion, Taurus, and Gemini can also be seen dotting the sky. The Great Rann of Kutch ("rann" means desert in Hindi) is a seasonal salt marsh within the Thar Desert in the Indian state of Gujarat. The photographer's campsite glows over the white salt.

Talwar took the image on Jan. 27, 2011.

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Nina Sen is a freelance writer and producer who covered night sky photography and astronomy for Space.com. She began writing and producing content for Space.com in 2011 with a focus on story and image production, as well as amazing space photos captured by NASA telescopes and other missions. Her work also includes coverage of amazing images by astrophotographers that showcase the night sky's beauty.