This stunning photo was taken by the gifted photographer Anton Jankovoy, whose pictures must be seen to be believed. They are surpassingly beautiful, and not just his astrophotos.

He took the one above in Annapurna, a region of Nepal that has been uplifted as a whole piece (called a massif) and reaches elevations of over 8000 meters. I recently spent a day in the Rockies at just less than half that elevation and it was tough; the air pressure was only about 2/3 what it is at sea level — and I’m used to living at an elevation of 1600 meters or so. At 8000 meters, the pressure drops to just 1/3 of that at sea level, and the air is so thin it’s difficult to imagine actually hiking there. But clearly, people do.

And judging from Anton’s photo, it may very well be worth the trouble of visiting. What must it be like to stand in that spot and see first hand such astronomical and geological magnificence?

(via Discover Blog)