APOD: The Milky Way Over Monument Valley (2015 Nov 01)

[APOD Robot]

The Milky Way Over Monument Valley

Explanation: You don't have to be at Monument Valley to see the Milky Way arch across the sky like this -- but it helps. Only at Monument Valley USA would you see a picturesque foreground that includes these iconic rock peaks called buttes. Buttes are composed of hard rock left behind after water has eroded away the surrounding soft rock. In the featured image taken in 2012, the closest butte on the left and the butte to its right are known as the Mittens, while Merrick Butte can be seen just further to the right. High overhead stretches a band of diffuse light that is the central disk of our spiral Milky Way Galaxy. The band of the Milky Way can be spotted by almost anyone on almost any clear night when far enough from a city and surrounding bright lights.

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[Boomer12k]

Just Awesome!

:---[===] *

[scorpio43]

I was curious about the Dancing Stallion above the galactic core in today's picture. Alas, I searched APOD and google and found nothing... Can someone help find this asterism? Thanks in advance....

[Ann]

I was curious about the Dancing Stallion above the galactic core in today's picture. Alas, I searched APOD and google and found nothing... Can someone help find this asterism? Thanks in advance....

Click to view full size image

Coathanger asterism.
Photo: Fine Art America.

There is no Dancing Stallion asterism in the sky. There is, however, a Coathanger asterism.

Ann

[jisles]

It's "North America Nebula", not "North American Nebula".

John I

[Chris Peterson]

I was curious about the Dancing Stallion above the galactic core in today's picture. Alas, I searched APOD and google and found nothing... Can someone help find this asterism? Thanks in advance.... :?:

It's not an asterism (which is a shape perceived in stars), but rather, a dusty region of the Milky Way. It is more commonly called the Dark Horse Nebula, a well-known and popular showpiece of unaided nighttime viewing.

[Chris Peterson]

It's "North America Nebula", not "North American Nebula".

Well, that's broadly true by convention, but since there is no official naming for nebulas outside of catalog numbers, it's not obvious that any common name can really be called wrong.

[starsurfer]

It's "North America Nebula", not "North American Nebula".

Well, that's broadly true by convention, but since there is no official naming for nebulas outside of catalog numbers, it's not obvious that any common name can really be called wrong.

Everywhere the popular name of NGC 7000 is mentioned, it is referred to as North America Nebula. It feels good to be pedantic.

[LocalColor]

Wonderful image. Amazed that the photographer found a spot with no power lines.

[neufer]

It's "North America Nebula", not "North American Nebula".

Well, that's broadly true by convention, but since there is no official naming for nebulas outside of catalog numbers, it's not obvious that any common name can really be called wrong.

<<The North American Nebula and the nearby Pelica Nebula, (IC 5070)
are in fact parts of the same interstellar cloud of ionized hydrogen (H II region).>>

[Tekija]

It's "North America Nebula", not "North American Nebula".

Well, that's broadly true by convention, but since there is no official naming for nebulas outside of catalog numbers, it's not obvious that any common name can really be called wrong.

Everywhere the popular name of NGC 7000 is mentioned, it is referred to as North America Nebula. It feels good to be pedantic.

Shall we resolve that with a fight?

http://www.googlefight.com/%22north+ame ... ula%22.php

[Chris Peterson]

Well, that's broadly true by convention, but since there is no official naming for nebulas outside of catalog numbers, it's not obvious that any common name can really be called wrong.

Everywhere the popular name of NGC 7000 is mentioned, it is referred to as North America Nebula. It feels good to be pedantic. :D :lol2:

Shall we resolve that with a fight?

http://www.googlefight.com/%22north+ame ... ula%22.php

Heck, I call it the Schnerfelbock Nebula. Just because nobody knows what the heck I'm talking about, that doesn't make it wrong.

[quigley]

This glorious shot brings back memories of a family vacation from my pre-teen years when we stayed at Goulding's Lodge in Monument Valley. The velvet black sky was not only spectacular with stars, but also with bats circling around the base of one of the buttes where Goulding's is situated. Back then we were called to a cowboy-style dinner by the ringing of a triangle at the chuck hall. The place has been updated over the years, however it is still a terrific place for sky-gazing in an old-west atmosphere.

[harmount]

Standing in MS, as I look out toward the galactic arm, am I tangent or perpendicular to the center? Or some where in between? Looking up from the desert floor, it seems that I am not quite perpendicular, but angular to the arm. Just trying to get a bearing... Lynn Harmount

[Ann]

Chris wrote:
Heck, I call it the Schnerfelbock Nebula. Just because nobody knows what the heck I'm talking about, that doesn't make it wrong.

Schnerfelbock Nebula?

But it makes it a bit impractical if you want to talk to others about it.

Ann

[Chris Peterson]

Heck, I call it the Schnerfelbock Nebula. Just because nobody knows what the heck I'm talking about, that doesn't make it wrong.

But it makes it a bit impractical if you want to talk to others about it.

Indeed it does. But I expect if you use the much less common "North American Nebula", there will be little confusion.

[Chris Peterson]

Standing in MS, as I look out toward the galactic arm, am I tangent or perpendicular to the center? Or some where in between? Looking up from the desert floor, it seems that I am not quite perpendicular, but angular to the arm. Just trying to get a bearing... Lynn Harmount

We don't really see a "galactic arm". We're embedded in the disk of the Milky Way. So we see it as a ring that encircles the Earth, brightest and thickest at the galactic center (looking inwards). We only see half this ring at a time, as the other half is below the horizon. In an image like the one here, the planar disk appears curved, but that's just a projection artifact. The centerline of the Milky Way "arch" really is a line.