Standing in Arizona’s largest dry lakebed, Wilcox Playa, astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy steadied himself as freight trains thundered by, threatening to blur the shot that took months to prepare. The crowd around McCarthy watched one morning last month in tense silence as he attempted and failed during six passes of a plane overhead to get the perfect image.

High above, his friend Gabriel C. Brown was perched on the edge of his plane seat, waiting for the signal to leap. “Originally, we we’re like, if we mess up the first attempt, I can land, repack, go up and try again,” Brown said.

However, their pilot announced that he was only available that morning, according to Brown. With just one more chance to get it right before the sun climbed too high, McCarthy counted down as the plane soa

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