APOD: The Milky Way Sets (2016 Aug 26)

[APOD Robot]

The Milky Way Sets

Explanation: Under dark skies the setting of the Milky Way can be a dramatic sight. Stretching nearly parallel to the horizon, this rich, edge-on vista of our galaxy above the dusty Namibian desert stretches from bright, southern Centaurus (left) to Cepheus in the north (right). From early August, the digitally stitched, panoramic night skyscape captures the Milky Way's congeries of stars and rivers of cosmic dust, along with colors of nebulae not readily seen with the eye. Mars, Saturn, and Antares, visible even in more luminous night skies, form the the bright celestial triangle just touching the trees below the galaxy's central bulge. Of course, our own galaxy is not the only galaxy in the scene. Two other major members of our local group, the Andromeda Galaxy and the Triangulum Galaxy, lie near the right edge of the frame, beyond the arc of the setting Milky Way.

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[heehaw]

"...this rich, edge-on vista of our galaxy." I'm tired of edge-on views of our galaxy!! For tomorrow's APOD, please give us a photo of our galaxy from above, showing all the spiral arms!

[paulslittlebit]

I agree lets fire up the FTL star ship (the government has hidden in aria 51) set a course for a point about one million light years above the galactic core, and get a better picture.

[Chris Peterson]

I agree lets fire up the FTL star ship (the government has hidden in aria 51) set a course for a point about one million light years above the galactic core, and get a better picture.

Much faster just to send a powerful radio message to a well-placed Local Group galaxy asking for anybody there to snap a picture and send it back. We'll only have to wait a few million years that way, instead of a few hundred million if we do it ourselves.

[alcor]

The shape of the Milky Way disc in this image makes me think of a certain tool from Australia. Take a look at the video

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

and you'll perhaps get what I mean.

[Zuben L. Genubi]

So, can anyone tell me where in this photo we are looking toward the galactic center? Is it the brightest area left of center above the planetary triangle?

[neufer]

So, can anyone tell me where in this photo we are looking toward the galactic center? Is it the brightest area left of center above the planetary triangle?

http://www.space.com/images/i/000/023/1 ... wnsize=660:*
http://media.skysurvey.org/interactive360/index.html
http://www.tony5m17h.net/AGN.html#milkyway

[Boomer12k]

WOW... a Galactic, Cosmic RAINBOW....er.... Galaxy BOW??????

I don't think I have seen a shot of the extent the Galactic Dust extends above or below the Galactic Plane.... er... relative to Hemisphere.... for me is "upside down"....

Love the pink and blue nebula areas.

The shape..come to notice... is reminiscent of the shape of the Martian Attack Craft in "War of the Worlds"...1953.

Great work.
:---[===] *

[alter-ego]

So, can anyone tell me where in this photo we are looking toward the galactic center? Is it the brightest area left of center above the planetary triangle?

http://www.space.com/images/i/000/023/1 ... wnsize=660:*
http://media.skysurvey.org/interactive360/index.html
http://www.tony5m17h.net/AGN.html#milkyway

In the Stellarium simulated view, I show the galactic coordinate grid with the center (0°Long, 0°Lat) circled. This is also the location for the Milky Way's supermassive black hole, Sag A^*.

[DavidLeodis]

From the explanation it seems that Centaurus is the obvious bright star at the left end of the Milky Way arc and it would seem to imply that Cepheus is to the far right end of the arc but there is no obvious bright star there. I wonder therefore if Cepheus is the bright star just above the small tree in the brightly lit area well to the left of the right end of the arc? From previous APODs I think Andromeda is the obvious smudge-like object to the far right but where is the Triangulum Galaxy? Any help will be appreciated.

[alter-ego]

From the explanation it seems that Centaurus is the obvious bright star at the left end of the Milky Way arc and it would seem to imply that Cepheus is to the far right end of the arc but there is no obvious bright star there. I wonder therefore if Cepheus is the bright star just above the small tree in the brightly lit area well to the left of the right end of the arc? From previous APODs I think Andromeda is the obvious smudge-like object to the far right but where is the Triangulum Galaxy? Any help will be appreciated.

Hi David,
You are right there are no obvious bright stars at the northern end of the Milky Way arc. There the easier stars to identify are actually in Cassiopeia (Caph and Shedir). Even though my previous post answers your first question (Vega), I've labeled the APOD to show all the stars, and M33 (Triangulum Galaxy). Note that Cepheus and Centaurus are constellations not stars which you seemed to infer in your post.

[DavidLeodis]

Thanks alter-ego for your help.

Your annotated version has greatly improved my understanding of what is in the excellent image. I should perhaps have known that Centaurus and Cepheus are constellations, not stars. It was however the use of "bright" in the APOD's explanation's "bright, southern Centaurus" that just made me assume that it referred to a single bright object. I doubt I would have identified M33 (Triangulum Galaxy) without your help.