Comet Hunter Snaps Unreal Aurora Ribbon, Neowise, 

Milky Way Panorama of a Lifetime in Rocky 

Mountains

Life is about the journey, not the destination. And Stanley Aryanto is really enjoying the view along the way.

The avid award-winning photographer, 34, from Indonesia witnessed an astronomical event few could fathom: a night set in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, capturing green and purple “dancing” skies, the rare Neowise comet, and a stunning tapestry of Milky Way stars—all at once strewn across a celestial panorama.

The quest for the spectacle, he said, speaks to the meaning of life itself.

Aryanto had quit his nine-to-five mechanical engineering job in West Australia to pick up his camera and capture the beauty of the world, traveling to fulfill his mission to hunt for the most elusive, extraordinary, and spectacular perspectives possible.

(Courtesy of Stanley Aryantoy/The Wicked Hunt Photography)

This led him to the Canadian Rockies where he caught the panorama of a lifetime one starry night. But like many things in life, that journey began with a failure.