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Night in the City: Milky Way Dazzles Over New Zealand Lights (Photo)

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Milky Way Over Evans Bay in Wellington, New Zealand
Astrophotographer Mark Gee sent in an intriguing view of the Milky Way over Evans Bay in Wellington, New Zealand, taken early June 2014. (Image credit: Mark Gee/The Art of Night)

The Milky Way shines over the bright city lights of Wellington, New Zealand in this stunning image from a veteran night sky photographer.

Astrophotographer Mark Gee captured this view of the Milky Way over Evans Bay near Wellington in early June. Unlike some stargazers, who sometimes travel great distances to capture memorable space images, Gee simply stepped outside. "I didn't have to go far to photograph this one, as I shot it from my balcony," he said.

Wellington has the second-largest population of the country, and the city serves as the capital of the country. Wellington lies at the southwestern tip of New Zealand's North Island. Gee told Space.com that his image represents a single exposure, which he found surprising giving the amount of detail and the Milky Way stretching across the night sky. [Amazing Stargazing Photos for June (Gallery)]

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Gee said the shot required care to get right, adding that he had to walk a fine line between overexposing the city below and underexposing the dark night sky. Gee used a Canon 6D camera with a Canon 14mm f/2.8 lens, with settings of a 10-second shutter, aperture of f/2.8 and a ISO of 3200 to capture the image.

To see more amazing night sky photos submitted by Space.com readers, visit our astrophotography archive.

Editor's Note: If you capture an amazing photo of the night sky that you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.

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Dust off your spiral arms and fatten up your bulge it's time to tap into your inner galaxy to test your smarts about the Milky Way. Our home in space is a strange and wondrous place that scientists are still trying to figure out. See what you know!

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Tom Chao
Tom Chao
Space.com Producer
Tom Chao has contributed to Space.com as a producer and writer since 2000. As a writer and editor, he has worked for the Voyager Company, Time Inc. New Media, HarperCollins and Worth Publishers. He has a bachelor’s degree in Cinema Production from the University of Southern California, and a master’s degree from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Tom on Google+.