The Annotated Galactic Center
Explanation:
The
center of our Milky Way galaxy can be found
some 26,000 light-years away toward the constellation
Sagittarius.
Even on a dark night, you can't really see it though.
Gaze
in that direction, and your sight-line is
quickly obscured by intervening interstellar dust.
In fact, dark dust clouds, glowing nebulae, and crowded starfieds
are packed along the fertile galactic plane and central
regions of our galaxy.
This annotated view, a mosaic of dark sky images,
highlights
some favorites,
particularly for
small telescope or binocular equipped skygazers.
The cropped version puts the direction to the galactic center
on the far right.
It identifies well-known Messier objects like the Lagoon nebula (M8),
the Trifid (M20),
star cloud M24,
and some of E.E. Barnard's
dark
markings on the sky.
A full version extends the view to the right toward
the constellation Scorpius, in all covering over 20 degrees
across
the center of the Milky Way.
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.
