The "Great Rift" (really obscuring dust) is visible to the naked eye at dark-sky locations.
It extends along most of the visible Milky Way.
The North America Nebula and the Pelican Nebula are prominent in the upper left of this image:
A wider field of view, including the above. The Rift is obvious.
![](http://www.allthesky.com/various/preview/sumtri-p.jpg")
The dust lane is striking in this 2MASS data compilation (computer-generated) of our galaxy.
