April 13, 2015 Death Valley Night Sky

As dusk came upon Death Valley on this beautiful spring day, I set up on a slope on the east side of the road for some night sky images.  The Zodiacal Light emerged, as did a bright meteor next to Venus!

I drove into Furnace Creek for a little refreshment, and continued on the road northeast from the Stovepipe Wells area.  I stopped at a pullout near Hells Gate to get some sleep, and woke up around 3:30 a.m.  A nice lenticular cloud had developed to the south, in the wake of the Panamints!  And the rising moon was illuminating the cloud, in front of the Milky Way!  It was happy tripod time!