The Milky Way |
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Should you have the opportunity to visit ISU's Observatory on a dark summer
evening, this is a view you might be able to enjoy if you look to the Northeast
after sunset. This photo, taken with
a normal camera lens by Guillermo Gonzalez, shows a view of our own Milky Way
galaxy. Unlike all of the other galaxy images in this calendar, our view
of our Milky Way is from the inside - and the milky band of stars we
see overhead in the summer is our view of the outer parts of the disk of
our galaxy.
Near the center of this image is the bright star Deneb, in the constellation of Cygnus. The faint glow of gas next to it is the North America Nebula, which we featured on the cover of our 2003 calendar. The bright star above and to the right is Vega, the brightest star visible in summertime skies. Along with Altair, on the right edge of this photo, these stars make up the "Summer Triangle" - a familiar feature of summer nights in the Northern Hemisphere. In the foreground is the silhouette of a modest radio antenna at our Observatory, which is being refurbrished for use as a radio telescope. Oh, and that small green streak? A firefly! | |