Posted on 10/31/2015 9:14:38 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: You don't have to be at Monument Valley to see the Milky Way arch across the sky like this -- but it helps. Only at Monument Valley USA would you see a picturesque foreground that includes these iconic rock peaks called buttes. Buttes are composed of hard rock left behind after water has eroded away the surrounding soft rock. In the featured image taken in 2012, the closest butte on the left and the butte to its right are known as the Mittens, while Merrick Butte can be seen just further to the right. High overhead stretches a band of diffuse light that is the central disk of our spiral Milky Way Galaxy. The band of the Milky Way can be spotted by almost anyone on almost any clear night when far enough from a city and surrounding bright lights.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit and Copyright: Wally Pacholka (AstroPics.com, TWAN)]
That’s an amazing shot. Can you really see the whole galaxy with the naked eye? Is it really curved?
Shots,like,that most often are composites. I was looking for an explanation, but didn’t see one.
From the photographer’s website, astropics.com:
Pacholka said he employs simple techniques and does nothing extraordinary to get his shots. He uses a standard 50mm lens mounted on a tripod, and points a small flashlight on nearby desirable rocks and other land features he wants to stand out in the photo.
He allowed that his digital camera has a light-gathering power that is in some instances more than 50,000 times greater than a typical daylight camera setting. Pacholka runs his exposures anywhere from a few seconds to a minute. But he doesn’t consider himself a guru.
“This is something the average person could do, absolutely,” he said.
Not in many inhabited places, not any more. :’o I can see it here.
Can't describe it any other way.
And amazingly it all exploded into being from nothingness. Better than pulling a rabbit out of a hat, if you ask me.
See the Orion arm or spur? That's area would be home to our solar system.
The Milky Way is a flat disc like the solar system. Yet the Sun and the planets all trace out an arch as they cross the sky. Both actually wrap around the planet as a complete ring structure.
Both the plane of the SS and the MW are fixed against the background stars and constellations. They run at a fixed 60-deg angle to each other. The plane of the SS is called the ecliptic plane. The plane of the MW is called the galactic plane. Our SS is roughly 3/4s of the way out from the center of the galaxy. This is why the angle of the galactic plane appears to change its orientation as the Earth spins during the course of the night.
I found this excellent graphic which illustrates the situation as we perceive it...
Looks like the panarama feature In the camera caused the bend in the camera. Weird though
It curves because it rises and sets by the time of night. If it didn’t curve in a Panorama shot, it would be a circle in the actual sky. One edge to the other in the photo is the beginning to the end of the time of night.
If he is leaving the exposure for more than a few seconds, it’s gonna get streaky. The earth is always moving. Star tails start at about ten seconds.
You CAN get good star shots using a high ISO and a really fast lens.
Again, the galactic plane is fixed in relation to the constellations. Sagittarius (the bright region on the right in the image) is one such place where the galactic plane and the ecliptic plane (plane of the solar system) crosses. There are 12 constellations along the complete ring of the ecliptic plane. They are the 12 constellations used in the horoscope. Sagittarius happens to be in the direction of the galactic center, where, 26,000 light years away, a super-massive black hole resides.
Beautiful shot. Looks like he light painted the foreground with a flashlight.
I drew the orange lime to depict the ecliptic plane (plane of the solar system, where the 12 zodiac/horoscope constellations reside). The center of our Milky Way Galaxy lies within Sag, the bright region. I'm sure I misspelled some or all of them.
That’s exactly what he says he does.
Btw, the answer to your question about seeing the entire galaxy from earth using the unaided eye is, no we can’t. Just as we cannot see the entire earth while standing on earth. But it sure would be a great view if we could.
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