THIS kaleidoscopic shot of the night sky above Santiago, Chile, was taken during the city鈥檚 lockdown and shows the extent of the capital鈥檚 light pollution.
Astronomer Juan Carlos Munoz captured the view from his balcony. He tries to infuse every urban night photo he takes with a 鈥済ritty and other-worldly鈥� feel, he says.
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For this picture, he covered a lens with a diffraction grating that is engraved with grooves that split the light spilling from the buildings and streets into different wavelengths in vertical streaks.
The reveals the make-up of the city鈥檚 various sources of illumination as a pattern soaring into the night sky. Sodium lamps have an orange spectra, metal halide lamps predominantly emit green, blue and violet light, while white LEDs are the brightest and emit across the visible spectrum (a good example is clearly visible just right of the centre of the photo).
Munoz says he takes such pictures to raise awareness of light pollution and hopes people can work together to illuminate cities in a more efficient way. 鈥淭he night sky is a natural heritage that all citizens deserve to enjoy regardless of where they live, and therefore it must be protected from pollution, just like oceans or the atmosphere,鈥� he says.
