|
|
A Southern Sky View
| Title |
A Southern Sky View |
| Explanation |
From horizon to horizon, the night sky above Loomberah, New South Wales, Australia was photographed by astronomer Gordon Garradd [ http://usrwww.mpx.com.au/~gjg/ ] on March 22, 1996. Garradd used a home made all-sky camera with a fish-eye lens [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970825.html ], resulting in a circular 200 degree field of view. This gorgeous sky view [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/images/96B2/96B2_960322_gg1.txt ] is dominated by the luminous band of the Milky Way [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960503.html ] cut by dramatic, dark interstellar dust clouds. Along with the bright stars of our Galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980203.html ] is visible at the upper right (about 1 o'clock) and the long, lovely, bluish tail [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960502.html ] of comet Hyakutake [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/comets_long/96B2.html ] can be seen toward the bottom of the image, near the bright star Arcturus [ http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/hr/5340.html ]. Bright city lights from nearby Tamworth glow along the Northwestern horizon. |
|
Comet Hyakutake and the Milk
…
| Title |
Comet Hyakutake and the Milky Way |
| Explanation |
Two years ago, the Great Comet of 1996 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960208.html ], Comet Hyakutake [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/comet/hyakutake/ ], inched across our northern sky during its long orbit [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960314.html ] around the Sun [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/sol.html ]. Visible above as the bright spot with the faint tail [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960326.html ] near the picture [ http://www.psiaz.com/polakis/gco/gco.html ]'s center, Comet Hyakutake [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/comets_long/96B2.html ] shares the stage with part of the central band of the Milky Way Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970517.html ], prominent in the picture's upper right. Also visible are Antares [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980726.html ], the bright orange star in the upper right, Arcturus [ http://www.windows.umich.edu/the_universe/Arcturus.html ], the bright star on the lower left, and the Pipe Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970621.html ], which is perhaps harder to find. Comet Hyakutake [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/index/Hyakutake.html ]'s unusually close approach [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960325.html ] to the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980204.html ] allowed astronomers to learn many things, including that comets can emit much X-ray light [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960411.html ]. |
|
|
