Another flame reflection over Antwerp city. This one was captured on film at 9:58 pm on January 18, 2004. Flaring activities at a petrochemical plant in the harbour were once again the cause of this extreme form of light pollution.

The camera used was a Zenit 12 XP reflex camera equipped with a 28 mm lens. The film was a 200 ASA film (erroneously set at 400 ASA). Exposure time was approximately 25 seconds, with the aperture set at f/4. The distance between the light source and the camera was 6.8 km (4.2 miles]. The altitude of the reflective cloud layer was calcuted to have been 4.3 km (14,108 feet).

The photo is the third out of a series of five. The next picture in the gallery shows the same pillar, photographed six minutes earlier with a 200 mm zoom lens.

[© Wim VAN UTRECHT/CAELESTIA]