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Credit & Copyright: Jerry Lodriguss
(Astropix.com)
Explanation:
Many of the stars in our home
Milky Way Galaxy appear together as a dim band
on the sky that passes nearly over the Earth's
north and south poles.
Pictured above is the part of
our Galaxy that passes
closest over the north pole.
Placing your cursor over the image will bring up the names of several constellations and
bright stars.
The diffuse white Galaxy glow is created by billions of stars,
while red patches are large
emission nebulas,
usually marking areas where bright stars have recently formed.
In the north, all of the
lights visible at night and all lights that created
this image were emitted within the past few thousand years
from within the Milky Way Galaxy -- except one.
On the upper right is a small faint patch designated M31, the
Andromeda Galaxy.
M31 is a spiral galaxy similar to our
Milky Way but so distant it emits the oldest light distinguishable
by the unaided eye --
light that takes over two million years to reach us.
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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