Xie Jie, 30, a photographer from Hunan province, is fulfilling his childhood dream by capturing breathtaking shots of the night sky.
 
The starlight photographer majored in biophysics in college but studied astronomy on his own, and traveled almost all the mountains in Hunan province, where he grew up, during his college years.
   
On Nov 1, 2021, a picture of a waterfall in the Luoxiao Mountains of Hunan by Xie, named "A Waterfall and the Milky Way", was selected as the Astronomy Picture of the Day by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration .
 
Born in Ningxiang, a county-level city in Changsha, capital of Hunan, Xie had the habit of sitting on a mat to look up at the stars when he was a kid.
 
"I remembered at that time the city lights were not so bright," he said. "Once, looking up, I could see the sky was full of stars."
   
Through those experiences, he developed an interest in the starry sky and learned  of the stars and the universe through books.
 
When looking up at the sky, Xie said he feels able to calm down.
 
"I especially like the feeling the sky gave to me. I sense loneliness when seeing the stars but also feel warm at the bottom of my heart," Xie said. "Maybe because of the peace and freedom the cosmos brings."