Away from the crowdedness and the rush of the city, pure nature can be discovered in its glorious beauty by gazing up at the stars in the sky. Being able to see crystal clear stars is nearly impossible in Cairo due to air pollution and black clouds.
But only 150 km away from Cairo, in Wadi Hitan, photographer Mohammed Omar decided to camp a night to star trail.
Star trailing is a type of photography in which the photographer would expose the camera for a long period time, from 15 minutes to an hour, in order to capture the motion of the stars.
The night, in which the photos would be taken, has to have no moon, because the light of the moon can be as strong as a lamp in clear skies. “We camp on a mountain that is at least 800 metres above the earth,” Omar said.
“It took me six months to complete the shots. I would go camping each month in different locations to take different positions and angles,” he added. “The beauty of the stars can never be described in words.”
Among the charming stars in the stay, another challenge appeared. Capturing the Orion Nebula was another challenge that took lots of work and preparation by Omar.
The Orion Nebula is situated in the Milky Way below Orion’s Belt in the constellation of Orion. It’s extremely bright and can be easily seen at night with bare eyes.
It’s located at a distance of approximately 1,344 light years; its mass is about 2,000 times the mass of the sun.
The stars and Orion Nebula can be seen in Wadi Al-Rayan in Fayoum, as well as Ras Shitan in Sinai.
All Photos taken by Mohammed Omar
