Posted on 02/15/2023 12:49:13 PM PST by MtnClimber
Explanation: This unusual sky was both familiar and unfamiliar. The photographer's mission was to capture the arch of the familiar central band of our Milky Way Galaxy over a picturesque medieval manor. The surprise was that on this January evening, the foreground sky was found glowing in a beautiful but unfamiliar manner. The striped bands are called airglow and they result from air high in Earth's atmosphere being excited by the Sun's light and emitting a faint light of its own. The bands cross the entire sky -- their curved appearance is due to the extremely wide angle of the camera lens. In the foreground lies Château de Losse in southwest France. Other familiar sky delights dot the distant background including the bright white star Sirius, the orange planet Mars, the blue Pleiades star cluster, the red California Nebula, and, on the far right, the extended Andromeda Galaxy. The initial mission was also successful: across the top of the frame is the arching band of our Milky Way.
For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.
Lovely!
Thank you for posting these everyday for us!
It’s a great escape from all the bad news!
That is something we don’t see everyday.
I have looked up at the night sky many times and have never seen captions on the objects like the stars and planets and galaxies and nebula.
“I have looked up at the night sky many times and have never seen captions on the objects...”
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You can, by looking “through” a smartphone with an “Augmented Reality” mode capable sky watch App... ;-)
(Point your phone at a planet, for example, and it will label it properly...)
GoSkyWatch, GoSatWatch are a couple of my favs...
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