Star Chaser | From snow-capped mountains, deserts, fluorescent seas to city landmarks, the sun, moon, and stars in my eyes

It took me five years to select 50 clips from more than 400 starry sky materials to edit this "Sun, Moon and Stars", starting with sunset and moonrise and ending with moonset and sunrise. This starry sky collection covers landforms including snow-capped mountains, deserts, grasslands, lakes, Gobi deserts, fluorescent seas and many city landmark buildings. At the same time, I tried to incorporate the history, culture and myths and legends of the Chinese nation with voice-over text, such as Kunlun Mountain, which was called the "ancestor of the dragon veins" of China by the ancients, and Laojun Mountain, "the unparalleled holy land in the world and the world's number one fairy mountain".

The sun and the moon are actually shining but tiny stars in the universe. I hope that by recording the magnificent and stunning beauty of the sun, moon and stars, I can remind people to maintain their curiosity and desire to explore, look up at the starry sky more often, and protect the earth. At the same time, I also try to explore some more in-depth topics, such as the green comet landing on the earth, the green primitive life fireflies, and the primitive human gathering places filled with green airglow. Can they connect the origin of life on earth? The Andromeda Galaxy, which may merge with the Milky Way in 4 billion years, also makes us think about the ultimate destination of mankind and the universe.

My love for mathematics and physics turned into a pursuit of light and shadow and an exploration of the universe after graduating from college. Recording the stars and the sea is another continuation of the unrealized scientific dream. Every atom in our body comes from a star, but the atoms in your left hand and right hand may come from different stars.

You and I are all stardust, let’s look up at the stars together!

Lighthouse under the stars/

The first photo of the starry sky I took six years ago was taken on a very exciting and unforgettable sleepless night: I was driving alone to explore the very edge of Zhuhai city. For the first time, I saw the starry sky and the Milky Way with my naked eyes. I was shocked to see the light again in the dark world.

The bright stars on Kunlun Mountain/

The mid-focus star field meteor shower is a new subject I have always wanted to try. On the eve of the 2020 Perseid meteor shower maximum, I came to the Hoh Xil in Qinghai, which is more than 4,000 meters above sea level, to look at the majestic Kunlun Mountains, the ancestor of all mountains. The spectacular Milky Way was clearly visible, and the color palette just fell over the snow-capped mountains. At the same time, the moon just rose slowly from the back and illuminated the snow-capped mountains. I was fortunate to record this dreamy and surreal scene.

2021 Zhuhai Fantasy Fluorescent Galaxy/

It is rare to capture such a dazzling center of the Milky Way in Zhuhai, Guangdong, where light pollution is getting worse and worse. It happened to coincide with the first fluorescent sea outbreak in six years in 2021 (a red tide phenomenon caused by the proliferation and aggregation of Noctiluca), and I was fortunate to record this rare and dreamy suburban starry sky.

Sparks Passed Down/

In front of an old school, a mother and son hold a magic ball in their hands, feeling the magical night. Groups of fireflies flicker under the phoenix tree, and the stars in the sky slowly rotate around the North Star. Time flies and freezes in an instant. In the latest International Dark-Sky Association 2021 "Capture the Dark" photography competition, this photo also stood out from thousands of works submitted by contestants from 66 different countries and won the second place in the group. I am very happy to share a starry sky photo with friends all over the world, which has a strong Chinese characteristic, so that the world can recognize China more.

【Award Certificate】

Fluorescent starfish/

The dreamy fluorescent sea and starry sky I encountered at Mermaid Island in 2019. It was really as beautiful as the fluorescent sea in Stephen Chow's movie "The Mermaid". It seemed that countless blue whales were swimming towards me on the sea, leaving behind shining blue tears when they arrived at the beach. Photos can't express the shock of seeing it with your own eyes.

Picking stars from the sea/

The bright stars and the vast sea have always been what people yearn for and admire. This photo shows a girl's beautiful wish of picking the stars and the sea with her hands.

Watch the stars and the sea with you/

The two trees in the picture have been cut down, but their roots are firmly rooted in the earth, and they keep their oath to jointly protect the stars and the sea. The moon is like the king of stars, illuminating the entire beach, and Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and the moon are connected in a line along the ecliptic plane. The picture is a single exposure.

The light of Da Vinci rising in the desert/

The bright crescent of the moon is produced by the moon reflecting sunlight to the earth, while the remaining gray dark side of the moon is produced by the earth reflecting sunlight to the moon and then the moon reflecting it back to the earth. It is commonly known as earthshine or the new moon embracing the old moon. Leonardo da Vinci first described the process of sunlight reflected by the earth's oceans illuminating the dark surface of the moon more than 500 years ago, so it is also called the Da Vinci Glow. The color version of this picture was fortunately on NASA APOD in the United States on September 26, 2019.

Total Lunar Eclipse Sequence on the Lighthouse of Love/

On May 26, 2021, the super full moon coincided with a total lunar eclipse. I recorded the sequence of light starting to appear after the total lunar eclipse on the Love Guardian Tower in Zhuhai, Guangdong, as well as the many people under the lighthouse who were also looking up and recording the total lunar eclipse.

Lonely tree under the starry sky/

I wish I could turn into a blade of grass under a lonely tree and watch the starry sky with you.

About the Author/

Lin Likai is a contracted photographer of 8KRAW Premier, a cooperative lecturer of Sigma, and a cooperative photographer of Futubao. He is the 2020 photographer of the Royal Observatory Greenwich, UK, and the champion of the 2021 International Dark-Sky Association "Capture the Dark" Photography Competition. His works have been featured on NASA and are often published in National Geographic, National Astronomy, American Astronomy, etc.

Editor/Huaichen Huan

China National Astronomical

Chinese National Astronomy

WeChat ID: chineseastronomy

"China National Astronomy" magazine is sponsored by the National Astronomical Observatory.

This magazine is aimed at the general public, providing astronomy content and cultural life that are scientific, cultural, artistic, and collectible.