A Milky Way Dawn
Explanation:
As dawn broke
on March 27, the center of the Milky Way Galaxy
stood almost directly above the European Southern
Observatory's Paranal Observatory.
In the
dry, clear sky of Chile's
Atacama desert, our galaxy's dusty central bulge is
flanked by Paranal's four 8 meter Very Large Telescope
units in this astronomical fisheye view.
Along the top, Venus is close to the eastern horizon.
The brilliant
morning star shines very near
a waning crescent Moon
just at the edge of one of the telescope structures.
Despite the bright pairing in the east, the Milky Way
dominates the scene though.
Cut by dust lanes
and charged with clouds of stars and glowing nebulae,
the center of our galaxy sprawls across the darker zenith
even as the deep blue sky grows brighter and buildings
still glint in moonlight.
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.
