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Credit & Copyright: Jean-Francois
Graffand
Explanation:
Follow this vertical panoramic view from horizon to horizon and
your gaze will sweep through the zenith of a dark night sky over
Pic du Midi mountaintop observatory.
To make the journey above a sea of clouds,
19 single exposures were taken near the end
of night on October 31 and assembled in a mercator projection
that renders the two horizons flat.
Begin at the top and you're looking east toward the upsidedown dome of
the observatory's 1 meter telescope.
It's easy to follow the plane of
our Milky Way galaxy as it
appears to emerge from the dome and angle down toward the far horizon.
Just to its right, the sky holds a remarkable diffuse glow of zodiacal
light along our Solar System's ecliptic plane.
Zodiacal light
and Milky Way with star clusters, cosmic dust clouds
and faint nebulae, cross near the zenith.
Both continue down toward the airglow in the west.
They disappear near the western horizon at the bottom, beyond
more Pic du Midi observatory domes and a tall communications relay antenna.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Milky Way - zodiacal light
Publications with words: Milky Way - zodiacal light
See also:
- APOD: 2024 November 24 Á Journey to the Center of the Galaxy
- APOD: 2024 November 5 Á Milky Way over Easter Island
- APOD: 2024 August 4 Á Gaia: Here Comes the Sun
- APOD: 2024 July 29 Á Milky Way over Uluru
- APOD: 2024 May 29 Á Stairway to the Milky Way
- APOD: 2023 December 12 Á Aurora and Milky Way over Norway
- Milky Way Rising