APOD: Milky Way over Uluru (2015 Jul 30)

[APOD Robot]

Milky Way over Uluru

Explanation: The central regions of our Milky Way Galaxy rise above Uluru/Ayers Rock in this striking night skyscape. Recorded on July 13, a faint airglow along the horizon shows off central Australia's most recognizable landform in silhouette. Of course the Milky Way's own cosmic dust clouds appear in silhouette too, dark rifts along the galaxy's faint congeries of stars. Above the central bulge, rivers of cosmic dust converge on a bright yellowish supergiant star Antares. Left of Antares, wandering Saturn shines in the night.

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[henrystar]

At first I thought it was Uhuru. The aborigines discovered it before Mr. Ayres did, of course. Ten thousand years ago, all around the world, what did all those people, just as intelligent as we are, think, when they looked up at night and saw what we, with our street lights, cannot see today? It would have made them philosophers and religious. What have street lights made us?

[Dad is watching]

We were looking at this image and at the central bulge of our own galaxy. We were wondering about the 'granularity' of the image and how many actual stars there could be per pixel. Any ideas about the scope of the numbers?

[huston]

Isn't the image flipped? The MW flows NE down to SW?

[Chris Peterson]

Isn't the image flipped? The MW flows NE down to SW?

The Milky Way crosses the sky as a great arc, sweeping up from the east and setting in the west. The actual angle it creates against the horizon depends on the time it is observed.

[Chris Peterson]

At first I thought it was Uhuru. The aborigines discovered it before Mr. Ayres did, of course. Ten thousand years ago, all around the world, what did all those people, just as intelligent as we are, think, when they looked up at night and saw what we, with our street lights, cannot see today? It would have made them philosophers and religious. What have street lights made us?

As individuals, we are less in touch with the part of nature over our heads than were members of most pre-technological societies. As a culture, however, we actually know real stuff about that part of nature, in great depth... unlike any pre-technological society. And any individual living in a streetlight culture can opt to know these things, as well.

Intelligence can only take you so far without actual knowledge to feed it.

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

Not having been under skies anywhere nearly that dark is the Milky Way really that bright, there in Australia, or is that due to the camera exposure? A natural streetlight if so.

[huston]

I still say the picture is flipped horizontal as Saturn should be west of Antares, not east!

[Chris Peterson]

Not having been under skies anywhere nearly that dark is the Milky Way really that bright, there in Australia, or is that due to the camera exposure? A natural streetlight if so.

No. You can't read by the Milky Way, it doesn't significantly provide light. Most of the light at night in a dark place is just sky background, not the Milky Way. Under the darkest skies, it's still just a faint gray bar.

[neufer]

At first I thought it was Uhuru.

<<Uhuru was the first satellite launched specifically for the purpose of X-ray astronomy.

The satellite's name, "Uhuru", is the Swahili word for "freedom". It was named in recognition of the hospitality of Kenya from where it was launched, from the Italian/Kenyan San Marco launch platform near Mombasa.>>

<<Nyota Uhura is a character in Star Trek. The character was portrayed by Nichelle Nichols in all but the most recent two Star Trek films.

Gene Roddenberry had intended his new [black] female communications officer to be called "Lieutenant Sulu". Herb Solow pointed out how similar this was to "Zulu" and thought it might act against the plan for racial diversity in the show, so the name Sulu remained with George Takei's character.

"Uhura" comes from the Swahili word uhuru, meaning "freedom".>>

The aborigines discovered [Uluru] before Mr. Ayres did, of course.

• The aborigines discovered Uluru before Mr. Gosse did, of course:

<<Uluru is a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory in central Australia. On 19 July 1873, the surveyor William Gosse sighted the landmark and named it Ayers Rock in honour of the then Chief Secretary of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers. The local Pitjantjatjara people call the landmark Uluṟu. Uluru is sacred to the Anangu, the Aboriginal people of the area. The area around the formation is home to a plethora of springs, waterholes, rock caves, and ancient paintings.

Robert Layton's (1989) Uluru: An Aboriginal history of Ayers Rock:

• Uluru was built up during the creation period by two boys who played in the mud after rain. When they had finished their game they travelled south to Wiputa ... Fighting together, the two boys made their way to the table topped Mount Conner, on top of which their bodies are preserved as boulders.>>

Ten thousand years ago, all around the world, what did all those people, just as intelligent as we are, think, when they looked up at night and saw what we, with our street lights, cannot see today? It would have made them philosophers and religious. What have street lights made us?

As individuals, we are less in touch with the part of nature over our heads than were members of most pre-technological societies. As a culture, however, we actually know real stuff about that part of nature, in great depth... unlike any pre-technological society. And any individual living in a streetlight culture can opt to know these things, as well.

Intelligence can only take you so far without actual knowledge to feed it.

Neil deGrasse Tyson first became interested in the stars staring up at them from the roof of his apartment building. Now his playground is the Hayden Planetarium.

Neil deGrasse Tyson: The Milky Way's actually visible behind me here.

This is the planetarium that changed his life when he was just nine years old.

Charlie Rose: You'd seen the sky from your rooftop--

Neil deGrasse Tyson: Oh, from my roof in the Bronx. And I saw all dozen stars that are visible. On a good night, maybe 14 stars. And I come in [the Hayden Planetarium], and they dim the light, and I said, "Wow!" And it was the universe... So imprinted was I by that sky that to this day I go to mountain tops where the finest observatories in the world are located and I say to myself, that reminds me of the Hayden Planetarium.

Charlie Rose: And when you walk outside wherever you are, do you look up, every time you walk outdoors?

Neil deGrasse Tyson: Any time I exit a building I look up, even if there are clouds. I can tell you that kids--kids'll look up when they come out and adults just stop. We've stopped catching snowflakes in our mouth, we stopped jumping into [mud] puddles and I, I don't want to ever lose that. In life and in the universe it's always best to keep looking up.

[Joe Stieber]

I still say the picture is flipped horizontal as Saturn should be west of Antares, not east!

Remember that this picture was taken from the Southern Hemisphere, so it's really the observer that's flipped if you're thinking of the view from the Northern Hemisphere. It was taken on a winter evening looking roughly east, and the sky's apparent movement would still be westward, but from Uluru (about 25 deg S), that movement would be more-or-less to the left rather than the right that we are accustomed to in mid-northern latitudes. So Saturn is indeed west of Antares and preceding it.

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

Not having been under skies anywhere nearly that dark is the Milky Way really that bright, there in Australia, or is that due to the camera exposure? A natural streetlight if so.

No. You can't read by the Milky Way, it doesn't significantly provide light. Most of the light at night in a dark place is just sky background, not the Milky Way. Under the darkest skies, it's still just a faint gray bar.

Thanks. I suspected it was a bit brighter than the eye would see. What do you suppose the photographers ISO setting was to capture such a bright sky? I was curious what the sensitivity to light a human eye had, compared to ISO, and found this link.

A great photo like this is probably a lot more complex than just increasing the sensitivity of the CCD but leaving the lens open longer would leave star trails and a wide open aperture doesn't get a great depth-of-field.

[hoohaw]

Not having been under skies anywhere nearly that dark is the Milky Way really that bright, there in Australia, or is that due to the camera exposure? A natural streetlight if so.

I've seen the Galaxy with the naked eye, and while it does not quite look like the photo, you CAN very clearly see the dark rift in the Milky Way caused by interstellar dust. I'd love to see it again, but light pollution is so bad now.....

[Nitpicker]

The centre of the Milky Way passes daily through our local zenith in this part of the world (around midnight at the June Winter solstice). This APOD was taken in the early evening of July 13, about three hours before the galactic centre reached the zenith (which is at top-centre of the APOD, above Saturn and Antares).

[DavidLeodis]

It's a superb photo . I even learnt a new word, namely "congeries".

[neufer]

It's a superb photo . I even learnt a new word, namely "congeries".

CONGERIES (plural CONGERIES) [From Latin congeriēs (“heap, mass, pile”), from congerō (“I carry together”).]

• A collection or aggregation of disparate items(; e.g., Starship Asternauts).

<<SERIES is a singular word ending in S, but its plural is identical. Others are SPECIES, CONGERIES, SHAMBLES, KUDOS and PREMISES.

CORPS has the plural spelled the same way as the singular but pronounced differently. Other such words are CHASSIS, BOURGEOIS, RENDEZVOUS, PINCE-NEZ, FAUX PAS, GARDEBRAS, PRÉCIS [Keith C. Ivey in alt.usage.english].

FOLK and FOLKS are both plurals, with no singular form.

ALMS is a word with no singular form. Other words with no singular form or a rarely used singular form are: AGENDA, ANNALS, IDES, JITTERS, BRACES, CATTLE, CLOTHES, DIBS, EAVES, GOGGLES, MARGINALIA, PANTIES, PANTS, PLIERS, REMAINS, RICHES, SHENANIGANS, SHORTS, SCISSORS, SUDS, and TROUSERS.>>

[neufer]

I still say the picture is flipped...

Remember that this picture was taken from the Southern Hemisphere, so it's really the observer that's flipped....

The centre of the Milky Way passes daily through our local zenith in this part of the world (around midnight at the June Winter solstice). This APOD was taken in the early evening of July 13, about three hours before the galactic centre reached the zenith (which is at top-centre of the APOD, above Saturn and Antares).

[alter-ego]

 

APOD Simulation

Location: Ayers Rock
Date/Time: July 13, 10:44 UT
Saturn Altitude: ~75°