• Tagged adventure, backpack camping, camping, nature, night photography, positive quotes, stargazing, stars

With the arrival of summer, the great outdoors is calling, “Come play in me.” Millions of people enjoy hiking, backpacking, trekking and then camping under the stars. Here are some positive quotes and tremendous night sky views to inspire you to get out there; have an adventure, and go camping! [42 Photos]

• Tagged Astronaut André Kuipers photos, Astronaut Don Pettit photos, ATV, Aurora, comet, dragon, ESA, International Space Station, ISS, lightning, lyrids, NASA, space, star trails, stargazing, stars

ISS astronauts continue to shoot spectacular images and send them back to Earth to share the stunning sights. [27 Photographs, 2 Videos]

• Tagged abandoned houses, Ben Canales, environment, nature, night photography, Oregon, photographer, photography, space, star trails, stargazing, stars

Ben Canales has astounding skills as a night photographer, capturing the child-like wonder and awe of our world as we stare up at the stars. When he was younger, he lived in an urban area where a starry night means maybe seeing a maximum of 20 stars. Now he lives on the West Coast “nearby some very dark, much less light-polluted night skies. It’s been a thrill and a treasured experience to look up and see a literal field of diamonds in the stars above.” Besides photographing the stars for personal enjoyment, Ben does it for us so we can feel the wonder of the sky as if we are standing under it ourselves and gazing up. He snaps glittering starry shots in amazing natural landscapes and also captures the night sky nearby abandoned houses way out in the middle of nowhere. He climbs mountains and pitches a tent far away from civilization to better bring us these amazing images of the stars. Ben quotes Van Gogh: “For my part I know nothing with any certainy, but the sight of the stars make me dream.” We were blown away, absolutely dazzled, when we saw his breathtaking photos on The Star Trail. Wowza! We love these pics! [40 Photos]

• Tagged ALMA, ESO, La Silla, Milky Way, nature, Paranal, photos, pics, pictures, space, stargazing, stars, VLT

When you were a kid, did you ever wish upon a star? Stargazing always seems to help put problems into perspective. Americans usually know more about and love NASA, but the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is cool too. The ESO operates the Paranal Observatory, located in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile at an altitude of 8,645 feet. The largest telescope on Paranal is called the Very Large Telescope (VLT) and it shoots a super cool laser into outer space. These incredible pictures were all taken at the ESO, featuring gazillions of stars in the majestic Milky Way, the VLT, Cerro Armazones, La Silla Observatory, or ALMA antennas. We love these pics! [35 Photos]