A Night on Buzludzha with Astrophotographer Mihail Minkov
Can you see the stars during the day?
That was one of the first questions astrophotographer Mihail Minkov was asked when he visited one of Cedar’s houses in Kazanlak.
Over the past few years, Mihail has travelled to some of the darkest places on Earth in search of the brightest views of the night sky.
What is astrophotography? Where is the Milky Way? And why is it best seen from places like the Atacama Desert and Easter Island? We talked about all this last week, just before the peak of the Perseids, when Mihail spent an evening with us.
“The stars are there during the day, too. We just can’t see them,” he explained.
“Because of the sun?”
“Exactly.
“When the sun is out, it’s as if the stars aren’t there. But they always come back when the sun goes down. It’s the same when you’re feeling sad – you should always remember that you’ll feel good and happy again.”
That evening, though, there was no reason to be sad – and certainly no time for it. We were on a mission to catch the stars. Bedtime was postponed, of course, although not indefinitely. 🙂
After talking about galaxies and looking through Mihail’s spectacular photographs from his recent travels, we all set off for the Buzludzha Monument.
“It’s like something out of a fairytale!”
To see the stars, you need darkness. Maybe not quite the kind you find in the desert, but at least somewhere away from the light pollution of the city.
On Buzludzha, Mihail showed us the Summer Triangle, the Big and Little Dippers, and Cassiopeia. And once our eyes had fully adjusted to the darkness, we saw the Milky Way – something that is almost impossible to see from a city.
“It’s like something out of a fairytale!” one of the girls exclaimed.
And then we understood what Mihail had meant earlier when he told us that a camera can make visible what the eye cannot see. By slowing down the shutter speed, we could capture the trails of shooting stars as they crossed the sky. The photographs Mihail took for us nearly caused a meteor shower of excitement.
For most of the children, it was the first time they had been able to simply look up and see the Milky Way.
For Samir*, it was different. He has walked for miles beneath the night sky on his journey towards a freer life. He has lived with us for two years now. He has bright, curious eyes and makes the best döner kebabs. 🙂
Today, he plays football and wins medals, rides his bike, and loves learning about nature and geography. He enjoys making and fixing things, too – give him a screwdriver and there’s almost nothing he won’t try to fix.
For him, that evening was the most exciting and special of all – because of the stars, but also because he had met someone who had turned his own curiosity into a profession and travelled the world to pursue it.
“I want to be like him now,” Samir said.
Thank you, Mihail, for showing us what lies beyond the city lights – and taking us there to see it for ourselves.
We returned to Kazanlak in cars filled with sleeping children, pictures from another universe, and memories of an evening we are sure we’ll remember for a long time.
*The child’s name has been changed.
Mihail Minkov is an astrophotographer, artist and graphic designer who, in recent years, has devoted his work behind the lens to the night sky and the Milky Way. He has won numerous awards in some of the world’s most prestigious astrophotography competitions. His photographs have been featured by NASA, National Geographic, BBC and The Guardian.
