Photo by babaktafreshi / This single-exposure photograph of the Milky Way was taken at California's Mono Lake, with its islands of tufa. These limestone towers were formed by the buildup of carbonate minerals in water. Mono Lake has no outlet, making the trapped water alkaline and salty. But the lake has an unusually productive ecosystem, including strange bacteria—they've been analyzed by astrobiologists studying the possibility of life in other worlds and in such extreme conditions. Explore more of The World at Night photography with me babaktafreshi. #twanight #monolake #nightphotography