Little Alpine Planet

April 06, 2011

Foggy alpine little planet- Stefano De Rosa (2) 
Photographer: Stefano De Rosa; Stefano’s Website
Summary Author: Stefano De Rosa; Jim Foster

At first glance, this image seems to show a curious little planet having a predominantly blue sea rimmed by snow capped mountains. In actuality, it’s a panorama of seven photos taken from a hill overlooking Turin, Italy on February 2, 2011. On this mid-winter morning, Turin was enshrouded in a sea of fog. As portrayed here, the Cottian and Graian Alps surround Turin. Three major peaks are easily identifiable:

  • At left (9:30 on the hands of a clock) stands Monte Viso, the highest peak of the Cottian Alps (12,602 ft or 3,841 m).
  • On the opposite side of the panorama is Rochemelon (11,608 ft or 3,538 m) in the Graian Alps.
  • At the “south pole” is Levanna Orientale (11,663 ft or 3,555 m).

Just below the “north pole” of the panorama, resembling the geysers on Enceladus, are plumes of smoke from industrial plants rising through the curtain of fog. Note the perching bird admiring the “world” from its privileged position atop the tree. The object at bottom left center is a light pole.

Photo and technical details: Seven images taken with a  DMC-FX35 Lumix Panasonic digital camera and combined with Panorama Maker 4. Little planet panorama obtained using Photoshop CS4. Click here for a zoomable version of the image.