FIRE AND ICE-- #COMET ZTF OVER #MOUNT #ETNA: Astrophotographer Dario Giannobile has been yearning to photograph Comet ZTF (C/2022 E3). "Animated by this desire, I took advantage of the only night with clear skies that occurred in this last ten days of January," says Giannobile. "My destination? Snowy Mt. Etna!"

Mt. Etna in eastern #Sicily is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Right now its hot vents are surrounded by deep snow--a marvelous yet challenging backdrop for comet photography.

"During the night the temperature dropped to -8°C at an altitude of 2000 meters, an exceptionally cold temperature for Sicily!" says Giannobile. "However, the landscape was breathtaking: an expanse of soft snow disturbed only by some fox and rabbit footprints. In the South East crater, some hot spots appear in the dark. They are fumaroles from which volcanic vapors come out... and in all this, the beauty of the sky with the splendid comet rising from the side of the volcano."

"The view was breathtaking, expressing, in a single image, a feeling of strength and delicacy, fire and ice."

https://spaceweathergallery2.com/index.php?title=ZTF