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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: 2023 December 12 Á Aurora and Milky Way over Norway
- Milky Way Rising
- APOD: 2023 July 18 Á Milky Way above La Palma Observatory
- APOD: 2023 July 16 Á Meteor and Milky Way over the Alps
- APOD: 2023 July 2 Á Milky Way and Aurora over Antarctica
- APOD: 2023 June 20 Á The Nandu in the Milky Way
- APOD: 2023 May 29 Á Milky Way over a Turquoise Wonderland