Air pollutant levels in Singapore have evidently decreased during the circuit breaker period as the global economy slows down due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Milky way visible thanks to clear night skies

Thanks to lower air pollution levels, you may have enjoyed the sights of some beautiful sunsets around your neighbourhood in recent weeks.

If you're more of a night owl, perhaps you might have gotten a glimpse of a clear night sky during this period as well.

Mothership reader Tedd Jong Wei shared a composite photo taken from his house at around 12am in Queenstown on May 31, displaying a large stretch of the Milky Way and planets such as Jupiter and Saturn as well.

The photographer used a Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera with a Tamron SP 15-30mm F2.8 lens to capture the shot.

"Heavy editing was needed, but the result was better than expected," Jong shared, adding that the results were obtainable as it was a dark, clear, and moonless sky.

While the planets could be seen with the naked eye, one would only see them as bright dots in the sky, unless one zooms in on the shot.

From the zoomed-in shots, Saturn, Jupiter and its moons can be seen.

He shared that the first photo was a composite of two shots, one for the Milky Way and another for the foreground, using a method for capturing night shots in heavily light-polluted areas.

As Singapore approaches the end of the circuit breaker, it is uncertain whether air pollution levels will remain as low as it is now.

A rare sight indeed.

Related stories:

Top image via Tedd Jong Wei