Canaries Sky
Explanation:
This gorgeous view of stars, nebulae, and the Milky Way
comes from
the dark night sky above
the lovely island of
La Palma in the Canaries archipelago.
The picture was made by a group of experienced astrophotographers
who traveled there to take advantage of the ideal
observing conditions near La Palma's
Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos.
Skygazers can easily pick out several of their
favorite astronomical objects
in this wide angle time exposure which
covers about 40 degrees on winter the
sky.
Faint stars along the plane of our Galaxy compose the delicate,
luminous band of the Milky Way
stretching across the image from the bottom left.
The familiar constellation
of Orion the hunter is also easy to find,
with
glowing nebulae
highlighting the hunter's belt and sword.
Orion's
famous red giant star
Betelgeuse, near picture center,
has a yellowish cast and
Rigel is the bright star in
Orion at lower right.
Brilliant white
Sirius, near the bottom, is the brightest
star in the picture (and in Earth's night sky).
Sirius, is part of
the constellation Canis Major (Big Dog).
Across the Milky Way, above and to the left of Sirius, is slightly
less brilliant Procyon, brightest star of
Canis Minor.
A V-shaped group of yellowish stars at the upper right, part of
Taurus the bull,
is dominated by the red giant
Aldebaran.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
