Astronomy Picture of the Day . ... 13.06.2009 . ... The composited image suggests a luminous Milky Way is the heavenly extension of a country road. Of course, the name for our galaxy, the Milky Way (in Latin, Via Lactea), does refer to its appearance as a milky band or path in the sky. ... The diffuse starlight is cut by dark swaths of obscuring galactic dust clouds. ... June 2009 . ... Publications with keywords: galactic plane - IYA2009 . Publications with words: galactic plane - IYA2009 . ...