Stunning snap captured of Venus moving through space over loch

This stunning snap shows Venus as it travels through the solar system over a loch.

Dad-of-two Stuart Ross, 62, took the snap at Loch Mallachie on Sunday, December 5.

Stuart, who works as a land surveyor, said he had not intended to capture Venus but managed to track it moving through space over the course of two minutes because he used a long exposure.

He had to consult stargazing websites when he got home to find out what he had taken a picture of. He lit the image with his headtorch to illuminate the spooky dead trees poking out the loch in the foreground beneath an ominous purple and orange sky.

Stuart, from Roybridge, Highlands, said: “It’s about an hour or so drive from me but I just happened to be there, out for a walk with the dog and it’s a nice spot for a picture.

“I’ve never seen it in that spot before. I go there when I get the chance because it’s nice when the sun goes down.

“When I came home, I Googled it and I found out it was Venus. “In the southwest sky, just after sunset you see Venus.

“Venus is the lowest in the southwest sky.

“It’s a very, very long way away and it’s nice to see the sky, the planets and the stars.

“My photos are taken raw so there is nothing artificial about it. The light on the trees is from my headtorch.

“Those two trees there, I don’t know what the story is with them but they’ve been there for a few years and they always make a nice reflection.

“I had a few goes and this is the one I was happiest with.

“It was totally dark around that time, so that shot took around two minutes with the shutter open. “Looking at the picture closely, Venus is not actually a dot it’s a little stripe – that’s two minutes of it travelling in the sky.”