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Credit & Copyright: Alvin Wu
Explanation:
An expanse of cosmic dust, stars and nebulae along
the plane of our Milky Way galaxy form a beautiful ring in
this projected
all-sky view.
The creative panorama covers the entire
galaxy visible
from planet Earth,
an ambitious 360 degree mosaic that took two years to complete.
Northern hemisphere sites in western China and southern hemisphere
sites in New Zealand were used
to collect the image data.
Like a glowing jewel set in the milky ring,
the bulge of the
galactic
center,
is at the very top.
Bright planet Jupiter is the beacon just above the central bulge
and left of red giant star
Antares.
Along the plane and almost 180 degrees from the galactic center,
at the bottom of the ring is the area
around Orion,
denizen of the northern hemisphere's evening winter skies.
In this projection the ring of the Milky Way encompasses two notable
galaxies in southern skies, the large and small
Magellanic clouds.
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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
Publications with words: Milky Way
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