Long ago, in galaxies far, far away ... countless photons began a journey through time and space, carrying with them the force we call light.

Most of these photons are destined to continue their journeys forever, carrying their light farther and farther away, interacting with nothing.

But 60 million years and 360 million trillion miles after their journey started, a few thousand of these photons, while passing through the galaxy we call the Milky Way, bounced off of a focusing mirror and came to a stop on a digital camera sensor, releasing the force they carried for so long. Their light is gone, but it left an impression, however fleeting it may be in the grand scheme. I present it here for you.

I took this photo on the night of April 17, 2009. It is a composite of 30 three minute exposures at ISO 800. It shows a portion of a group of galaxies that can be seen through telescopes from earth in the constellation Virgo. This group of galaxies is known as Markarian's Chain. The average distance of these galaxies from earth is approximately 60 million light years, or 360 million trillion miles. I can count at least 15 galaxies in this photo. Click the "Original" link below this paragraph to view the photo full size and see how many you can count.