Friday, March 30, 2007

Three Galaxies and a Comet


Credit & Copyright: Milosav Druckmuller (Brno University of Technology)
Explanation: Diffuse starlight and dark nebulae along the southern Milky Way arc over the horizon and sprawl diagonally through this gorgeous nightscape. The breath-taking mosaic spans a wide 100 degrees, with the rugged terrain of the Patagonia, Argentina region in the foreground. Along with the insider's view of our own galaxy, the image features our outside perspective on two irregular satellite galaxies - the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. Recorded on January 28, the scene also captures the broad tail and bright coma of Comet McNaught, The Great Comet of 2007.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

When I was a kid, us Boy Scouts used to camp summers up at a place in the California Sierra's called Deer Lake. You had to pack everything in on mules and horses (no motor vehicles allowed - primitive area) and there were no street lights within a couple hundred miles. And that is how the sky used to look as we stared up at night. The Milky Way.

Eyes said...

That's how it looked one time when we were on a catamerand (sp?)in the Carribean. Amazing.

Eyes said...

Maybe that's why aethism was such an unknown ideology in olden times... Most people just don't see this and have no clue about the Hubble pics.

Anonymous said...

I think you're right. If people could see the sky at night the way it really is, they'd certainly be a lot more humble.