Milky Way over Bryce Canyon

Those strange rock structures are towers and walls of sedimentary rock that are particularly plentiful in Bryce Canyon in Utah, USA.  Image credit Ben Cooper

The rock columns may rise higher than 50 metres and are called hoodoos. On the far left is Thor‘s Hammer, perhaps the most famous hoodoo. The tall rock columns were carved, most typically, when a unusually dense cap of rock provided a layer of protection to rock underneath from rain-based erosion. In the above panoramic picture taken earlier this month and compressed horizontally, the foreground rocks were momentarily illuminated by a roving spotlight. Visible in the background are a few water clouds a few kilometres away hovering over the nearby Earth.

via apod