Not only is it Milky Way (galactic core) season, but it was a new moon and I was enjoying one last camping trip before we leave New Mexico.
I went back to City of Rocks State Park south and east of Silver City, north and west of Deming. If I took the "direct" route, it would be 2-2.5 hours to get there, but I took the scenic route complete with detours, so I got in a bit late.
Early enough to set up my tent and go into town for dinner, though I got rained on during my return trip and more a bit after I got back. Just enough to make me retreat into my tent...but this is the desert, so the rain didn't last long and dried up pretty quickly.
Shortly after midnight I got up and had a great time wandering through the monoliths and taking photos of the Milky Way. The green skies are from "airglow" not Photoshop and not northern lights. While I didn't see that with my naked eyes, it certainly showed up on my camera screen after every shot - kind of cool!
Cheers,
Marc
