Photo by @babaktafreshi
The World at Night photography
Happy Solstice! The longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere. The winter solstice on Dec 20-21 is celebrated by various cultures. Yalda is an interesting one, a popular Iranian celebration which routes back to several thousand years ago. It brings families together to cheer for the rebirth of the sun after the longest night. A few of the Christmas elements share possibly common origin with Yalda and the Mithraic tradition of worshiping the sun god.
Ten years ago on a starry night near the solstice I was imaging winter constellations Orion and Canis Major with the bright star Sirius above the Alborz mountain range in Iran, under the moonlight. The eerie lava-looking glow in the Haraz valley is the light of cars traveling the road that connects Tehran to the Caspian Sea. Explore more of the Earth & Sky @babaktafreshi.
#yalda #yaldanight #solstice #wintersolstice #iranian #persian #alborz #orion #sirius #longexosure #twanight #nightphotography @natgeocreative @natgeo