Milky Way Close to Home

Milky Way in the sky with a house in the foreground

Milky Way in the sky with a house in the foreground

Although technically the Milky Way is above us during the right seasons, we cannot see it due to weather conditions and light pollution. This year, I was lucky to see it twice. Both times, it was towards Kanakapura. An attempt to spot it near Magadi did not yield much success. I captured this image at a farm house 50 km from Bangalore. By far, this is the best spot to gaze at the skies. We were in a well protected enclosure, and the light pollution levels were certainly manageable. The weather did not play spoilsport and around 10 of us spent the night looking up at the night sky. Some of them were astronomers and had telescopes – big and small. I also got a sight of Jupiter through one of the telescopes!

Timmappana Betta near Ramnagara

One morning, just as winter was reaching its peak, some friends and I drove to Timmappana Betta This rather discreet spot near Ramanagara turned out to be a great spot for landscape photographers. The condition of the road leading up to the hillock was surprisingly good. A small temple atop was probably the reason. After parking our car, we took a walk around the rather large plateau which give us different views of the geography around the hill. That day, the sunrise was rather dull, but Timmappana Betta is definitely a place worth visiting again. With not many people around, we spent a good two hours there, before heading out on Mysore Road for yummy breakfast at Kamath Loka Ruchi.