Venus setting behind local mountains
Taken by Ian Griffin on July 17, 2026 @
Middlemarch, Otago New Zealand
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Details:
Venus doesn't just set — sometimes it blazes its way down. In this long exposure taken from Middlemarch in New Zealand's Central Otago, the brilliant planet carves a dazzling shaft of light through thin cloud as it plunges toward the snow-dusted crest of the Rock and Pillar Range. At magnitude –4 and brighter than anything else in the night sky, Venus was luminous enough to punch clean through the cloud deck, its glare scattering into a golden halo that lit the sky like a false dawn. Fainter star trails rake the upper frame, dwarfed by the sheer intensity of our nearest planetary neighbour. The result looks less like a planet setting and more like a rocket launch in reverse — a reminder that on a clear southern winter night, Venus can be bright enough to cast shadows, and dramatic enough to stop you in your tracks.
Photographer's website:
https://www.instagram.com/portobellopictures/?hl=en
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