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Credit & Copyright: David Cruz
Explanation:
At night you can follow this road as it
passes through the Dark Sky Alqueva reserve not too
far from Alentejo, Portugal.
Or you could stop,
look up,
and follow the Milky Way through the sky.
Both stretch from
horizon to horizon in this
180 degree panorama
recorded on June 3.
Our galaxy's name, the Milky Way, does
refer to its appearance as a milky path in the sky.
The word galaxy itself derives from the Greek for milk.
From
our fair planet
the arc of the Milky Way is most easily visible on moonless nights
from dark sky areas, though not quite so bright or colorful as in this image.
The glowing celestial band is due to the collective light of
myriad stars along the galactic plane too faint to be
distinguished individually.
The diffuse starlight is cut by dark swaths
of the galaxy's obscuring interstellar dust clouds.
Standing above the Milky Way arc near the top of this
panoramic nightscape is
bright star Vega, with the galaxy's
central bulge
near the horizon at the right.
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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: 2025 July 2 Á Milky Way Through Otago Spires
- APOD: 2025 May 20 Á Milky Way over Maunakea
- APOD: 2025 May 13 Á Gaia Reconstructs a Top View of our Galaxy
- APOD: 2025 May 12 Á Gaia Reconstructs a Side View of our Galaxy
- Galaxies in Space
- APOD: 2025 February 9 Á Milky Way over the Australian Pinnacles
- APOD: 2024 November 24 Á Journey to the Center of the Galaxy