Triple Arch at 4200m

Once a year, both arms of the Milky Way share the same sky. This image captures that singular night from the Dent d'Hérens, a summit at 4,200 meters on the Swiss-Italian border, reached only by helicopter in winter. What was planned as a double arch became something rarer: the gegenschein, a counterglow caused by sunlight scattering off interplanetary dust, appears as a third arch crossing the frame. The landscape below looks toward the Matterhorn. The sky above holds three arches, each a different layer of the universe, in a single night that cannot be repeated. A full personal account of the expedition, the planning, and the making of this image is available here: https://blog.angelfux.com/p/triple-arch-at-4200m-matterhorn