Milky Way Falls
Explanation:
It can be the driest place on planet Earth, but
water still flows in Chile's Atacama desert, high in the mountains.
After discovering this small creek with running water, the photographer
returned to the site to watch the Milky Way rise in the dark
southern skies, calculating the moment when Milky Way and
precious flowing water would meet.
In the panoramic night skyscape,
stars and nebulae immersed
in the glow along the Milky Way itself also shared that moment
with the Milky Way's
satellite galaxies
the Large and Small
Magellanic clouds above the horizon
at the right.
Bright star Beta Centauri is poised at the very top of the waterfall.
Above it lies the dark expanse of the
Coalsack
nebula and the stars of the Southern Cross.
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.
