Astrophotography in Iraq: The Western Desert and the Kurdistan Mountains

Where to see the Milky Way in Iraq

The darkest skies in Iraq are the western desert of Anbar, the mountains of Kurdistan around Rawanduz and Soran, and the southern marshes near Nasiriyah. Autumn and spring suit the desert, summer the mountains.

Iraq’s cities are bright and its oil fields burn gas flares that light the sky for miles, but most of the country is desert or mountain with nobody in it. Where the sky is dark it is very dark, and the country spans enough latitude for both the northern sky and a good part of the southern one.

The western desert

West of the Euphrates, Anbar province is open desert all the way to the Jordanian and Saudi borders. Away from the highway and the towns along the river, the sky is as dark as anywhere in the Middle East. Travel there needs local knowledge, so go with people who know the area.

Suits: wide Milky Way panoramas and star trails over flat desert.

The mountains of Kurdistan

In the north-east, the mountains around Rawanduz, Soran and the Halgurd range rise above three thousand metres, and the valleys hold small villages rather than cities. The altitude and the dry summer air give the clearest sky in the country, and the mountains make a foreground. The region has the most straightforward travel in Iraq for a visitor.

Suits: deep-sky work from altitude, and mountain nightscapes.

The southern marshes

The Mesopotamian marshes near Nasiriyah are a UNESCO site and flat water country with reed houses. The glow of Basra and the oil fields sits to the south-east, but the marshes themselves are dark and the reflections are unusual.

Suits: nightscapes with water and reed foregrounds.

Timing a night

Autumn and spring are the comfortable seasons in the desert. Summer nights are hot and dusty in the south, and the dust storms of spring can last days. The mountains are a summer place, and under snow in winter.

What to shoot from Iraq

From 29 degrees north in Basra to 37 in the far north, the galactic core stands high in summer across the whole country, and from the south Omega Centauri clears the horizon in spring. In winter Orion and the Pleiades are up all night.

Processing what you bring home

Akastroid stacks and finishes your frames on your own computer, with nothing uploaded, so it works where the connection is slow or absent. The free download processes five sessions and allows two exports. If you buy a licence later, it can be paid for with a debit or credit card.

Across the Middle East

The same guide for the rest of the region: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Israel.