Night vision of Wallaman Falls, between Townsville and Cairns (north Queensland). The Full Moon enlightens the landscape and its light, combined with the water of the fall, creates a Moonbow. A bright shooting star crosses the Milky Way during the exposure.

The full celestial vault, taken with a particular lens covering 180° (fisheye) from the Carnarvon National Park (Queensland). The Milky Way (our Galaxy) in its brightest part passes near the zenith with the constellations (from left to right): Carina, Centaurus, Southern Cross, Scorpio, Sagittarius (galactic center), Aquila.

Later in the night, the Milky Way goes down towards the horizon. In the lower left corner the two Magellanic Clouds, small satellite galaxies of our Galaxy.

The area of the Southern Cross (center of the image) with the Coalsack nebula, huge dark area of dust and gas hiding the stars behind. On the right the Carina nebula, on the upper left the globular cluster Omega Centauri. Click on the image for a larger version.

Close-up on Omega Centauri. Click on the images for the full version. Numerous very small galaxies are scattered on the image.

The link between the three previous images, taken respectively with photographic focal lenghts of 14mm, 50mm and 500mm:

Close-up on the Large Magellanic Cloud, from Siding Springs Observatory (Coonabarabran, New South Wales). Click on the image for a larger version.

The area of the bright star Antares (on the right) in Scorpio includes gas and dust zones thare are dark or illuminated by the surrounding stars. Click on the image for a larger version.

The area of the Trifid (left) and Lagoon (right) nebulas, in the heart of the Milky Way (Sagittarius). These nebulas are composed of dust and gas and will give birth, after million years of progressive collapse, to stars and their processions of planets. Five billion years ago, our Solar System was born inside a nebula of this type, which has by now disappeared. Click on the image for a larger version.

The bay of Sydney: Harbour Bridge, the opera and the city center :

The bay from Circular Quay :

The opera from Harbour Bridge :

Thank you to Isabelle Blackburn, Laetitia Meunier, Kate Holt, James Coady, Tim Pike and Olivier Fortrye for their precious help for this unforgettable stay in Australia!