Stunning Photos of Our Milky Way Galaxy (Gallery)
Stunning Photos of Our Milky Way Galaxy (Gallery)
By SPACE.com Staff |
October 22, 2015 07:00am ET
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Largest Image of the Milky Way
Credit: Lehrstuhl für Astrophysik, RUB/ http://gds.astro.rub.de/
The Milky Way galaxy is home to 400 billion stars and our own sun and solar system. It is nearly 120,000 light-years across and a shining example of a spiral galaxy. See some of the most amazing views of our Milky Way galaxy ever captured by amateur and professional astronomers in this SPACE.com gallery. HERE: A section of the  Milky Way drawn from what researchers say is the largest astronomical image ever compiled, a huge mosaic of from five years of telescope observations of the galaxy. Read the full story behind the Milky Way view here .
Milky Way Over Old Windmill by Sean Parker
The Milky Way arches over an old windmill near Paulden, Arizona. Astrophotographer Sean Parker sent this image to SAPCE.com on Dec. 30, 2013. [ Read the story behind the photo here ]
Milky Way Over Joshua Tree National Park
Credit:  Shreenivasan Manievannan
Astrophotographer Shreenivasan Manievannan sent in a photo of the Milky Way arching over a rock arch in Joshua Tree National Park, California. Photo submitted May 1, 2014.
Milky Way Panorama Kamble
Credit: Amit Ashok Kamble
Night sky photographer Amit Ashok Kamble captured this amazing panorama of the Milky Way over Pakiri Beach, New Zealand by stitching 10 images together into a complete mosaic. Image submitted May 5, 2014. [ Read the Full Story Here ]
Eta Aquarid Meteor and the Milky Way
Credit: Mike Taylor/ Taylor Photography
Astrophotographer Mike Taylor sent in a photo of an Eta Aquarid fireball meteor with a green tail streaking through the sky with the Milky Way and reflections in a pond, taken on May 6, 2014. Taylor is based in central Maine.
Milky Way Reflections
Credit: Amit Ashok Kamble
Astrophotographer Amit Ashok Kamble sent in a photo of the Milky Way and its reflection in a pool, taken in Pakiri, New Zealand. Photo submitted May 5, 2014. [ Read the Full Story Here ]
Milky Way Rises Over Lighthouse by A. Garrett Evans
Credit: A. Garrett Evans | www.facebook.com/AGEvansPhotography
A. Garrett Evans sent Space.com this 9-shot panorama of the Milky Way rising over Cape Neddick Lighthouse in York, Maine on March 3, 2014. The photo covers nearly 180 degrees and was taken with a Canon 6D camera, Canon 16-35mm @ 16mm, ISO 4000, f/2.8, 30 sec. [ See the Story Behind This Photo Here ]
Frosty Drew Milky Way
Credit: Frosty Drew | Scott MacNeill
This image of the Milky Way was taken by amateur astronomer Scott MacNeill from Frosty Drew Observatory in Charlestown, Rhode Island. [ Read the Full Story Here ]
Milky Way, Green Airglow Over Isle of Wight
Credit: Chad Powell | Isle of Wight Milky Way Photography | www.isleofwightmilkyway.com
The Milky Way and green airglow are captured over the Isle of Wight in this image taken by Chad Powell on Oct. 4, 2013, using a Canon 6D camera (25 seconds, f/2.8, 20mm, and ISO 4000). [ Read the Story Behind the Photo Here ]
Present and Early Milky Way Montage Illustration
Credit: NASA, ESA, and Z. Levay (STScI)
What a difference 11 billion years makes, as can be seen in these two comparative views of our Milky Way galaxy. The top view shows how our galaxy looks today; the bottom view, how it appeared in the remote past. This photo illustration is based on a Hubble Space Telescope survey of evolving Milky Way-type galaxies. [ Read the Full Story Here ]
Illustration of Early Milky Way
Credit: NASA, ESA, and Z. Levay (STScI/AURA)
This is an imaginary view of our young Milky Way as it may have appeared 11 billion years ago, as seen from the surface of a hypothetical planet. The night sky looks markedly different than the view today. The Milky Way's disk and central bulge of stars are smaller and dimmer because the galaxy is in an early phase of construction. The heavens are ablaze with a firestorm of new star formation, seen in the pinkish nebulae glowing from stars still wrapped inside their natal cocoons. The handful of stars visible in the night sky are blue and bright because they are young. [ Read the Full Story Here ]
Milky Way Over Maui Space Surveillance Complex
Credit: U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III/ Airman Magazine
The Milky Way over the Maui Space Surveillance Complex. Maui's climate provides virtually year-round viewing conditions made possible due to the dry, clean air and minimal scattered light from surface sources, which enable visibility exceeding 150 km.
Milky Way Over Space Surveillance Refractive Telescope Housing
Credit: U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III/ Airman Magazine
The Milky Way seen over the housing of one of the Air Force's two 1.2 meter refractive telescopes at the Maui Space Surveillance Complex. The MSSS provides an unequaled opportunity to the Air Force's scientific community by combining state-of-the-art satellite tracking with a facility supporting research and development.
Old Tree Points at the Milky Way
Credit: Shenandoah Sanchez
Photographer Shenandoah Sanchez sent in a photo of the Milky Way taken along the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park, VA. The tree was light-painted with a flashlight. Image submitted Nov. 6, 2013.
Milky Way over Lake Superior
Credit: Shawn Malone
Skywatcher Shawn Malone sent in this photo of the Milky Way taken during the weekend of April 28-29, 2012, from the shore of Lake Superior. She writes: "The Milky Way was eye poppingly bright."
Milky Way Glows Over Hawaiʻi's Halemaʻumaʻu Crater
Quek ZongYe of Singapore captured this image of the Milky Way glowing over Hawaiʻi's Halemaʻumaʻu Crater on Sept. 12, 2012. The image was released on Oct. 14, 2013. [ Read the Story Behind the Photo Here ]
ESO Alma Telescopes and the Milky Way
Credit: ESO/José Francisco Salgado
Four of the European Southern Observatory's Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) antennas gaze up at the night sky. Milky Way is visible at left.
The Milky Way over the 1.54-Meter Danish Telescope at La Silla
Credit: ESO/Z. Bardon/ProjectSoft
The Milky Way shines over the 1.54-meter Danish telescope at La Silla, Chile.
Echinopsis Atacamensis and the Milky Way
Credit: ESO/S. Guisard
The Milky Way is seen in all its glory, as well as, in the lower right, the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Before the Meteor Rush
Credit: Tamas Ladanyi ( www.astrophoto.hu )
This bright Perseid meteor streaking through skies near Lake Balaton, Hungary on August 8, 2010, served as advance guard for the meteor shower that was scheduled to peak a few days later. In the foreground stands the region's Church of St. Andrew ruin, with bright Jupiter dominating the sky to its right. Two galaxies lie in the background: our own Milky Way, and the faint smudge of the more distant Andromeda Galaxy just above the ruin's leftmost wall.
3,000 Images Combine for Stunning Milky Way Portrait
Credit: Dr. Axel Mellinger
Axel Mellinger, of Central Michigan University, created this panorama of the Milky Way from 3,000 individual photographs that he melded together with mathematical models.
3 Telescopes Combine for Stunning Milky Way Photo
Credit: NASA, ESA, SSC, CXC, and STScI
In this spectacular image, observations using infrared light and X-ray light see through the obscuring dust and reveal the intense activity near the galactic core of the Milky Way. The image combines pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Milky Way Skyscape over Mangaia
Credit: Tunc Tezel
This heavenly view of the Milky Way was taken in the South Pacific paradise of Mangaia, the most southerly of the Cook Islands. This image was chosen as one of the winners of the National Maritime Museum's Astrophotographer of the Year 2011 Contest.
Shot Through the Heart
Credit: ESO/Yuri Beletsky
Three of the four 8.2-m telescopes forming ESO's VLT are seen dimly, with a laser beaming out from Yepun, Unit Telescope number 4. The laser points at the Galactic Center of the Milky Way, our galaxy. The bright object at center is Jupiter, while the other is Antares.
Paranal-mal Activity
Credit: ESO
The Milky Way shines in all its majesty, as well as the Magellanic Clouds on the right. Some of the docking stations for the Auxiliary Telescopes of the VLTI lie in the foreground.
Star Streams of Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy
Credit: Amanda Smith, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge
Artist's concept of the four tails of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy (orange clump on left of the image) orbiting the Milky Way. The bright yellow circle to the right of the Milky Way's center is our sun (not to scale). We can see the Sagittarius galaxy's star tails stretching across the sky.
The Milky Way over the Isle of Sark
Credit: Martin Morgan-Taylor
Stargazers on the Isle of Sark, in the Channel Islands off the coast of England, enjoy the wonder of the Milky Way.
World's Largest Milky Way Image Unveiled
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisconsin
A section of the largest image of the Milky Way ever created. It was stitched together from 800,000 individual infrared images taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
Are the Stars Out Tonight?
Credit: ESO/Y. Beletsky
Wednesday, April 6, 2011: In Chile's Atacama Desert, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds — satellite galaxies of our own — glow brightly at the left. The Milky Way, our galaxy, appears brightly on the horizon, while the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope stands at the right.
--Tom Chao
The Milky Way Above Seigneur's Mill on Sark
Credit: Martin Morgan-Taylor
The Milky Way glows above Seigneur's Mill on Sark.
Milky Way Canary Islands
Credit: Terje Sorgjerd (www.tesophotography.com)
A still from a time-lapse video made by photographer Terje Sorgjerd  of the night sky as seen from the Canary Islands.
Milky Way’s Central Structure Seen with Fresh Clarity
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC/Caltech)
An artist's rendering of the Milky Way and its central bar structure, with the Sun's position noted.
Rebel Stars Cross Paths with Sun
Credit: S. Kerroudj, B. Famaey & A. Jorissen (Université Libre de Bruxelles)
A simulated view of the Milky Way. Spiral arms contain higher concentrations of stars and gas. Each arm is a density wave that can reroute stars. The Sun is near the edge of one arm, about halfway out from the galactic center, or 26,000 light-years.
Exiled Stars: Milky Way Boots Members
Credit: The SDSS Collaboration
A photos of one of the newfound stellar exiles.
Milky Way's Formation Theory Questioned
Credit: Extracted from ESO Science Archive and processed by Henri Boffin (ESO).
Part of one of the four regions of the sky in the direction of the galactic bulge in which the astronomers measured the iron and oxygen content of stars.
Ancient Outburst of Milky Way's Black Hole Discovered
Credit: NASA/CXC/MIT/F.K. Baganoff et al.
This Chandra image shows our Galaxy’s center. The location of the black hole, known as Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A* for short, is arrowed. Also marked on this image are newly discovered large lobes of multimillion-degree gas that extend for dozens of light years on either side of the black hole.
Bursts Spotted at Milky Way's Black Hole
Credit: ESO/APEX/2MASS/A. Eckart et al.
This is a color composite image of the central region of our Milky Way galaxy, about 26,000 light years from Earth. Giant clouds of gas and dust are shown in blue, as detected by the LABOCA instrument on the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope at submillimetre wavelengths (870 micron). The image also contains near-infrared data from the 2MASS project at K-band (in red), H-band (in green), and J-band (in blue). The image shows a region approximately 100 light-years wide.
New Photos of Milky Way From New Space Telescope
Credit: ESA and the SPIRE & PACS consortia
This composite image of star-forming gas clouds in the Milky Way was taken by the recently launched Hershel telescope, and released Oct. 2, 2009.
New Observations Detail Milky Way's Big Black Hole
Credit: ESO/S. Gillessen et al.
This infrared image shows the center of our galaxy and the stars orbiting what is thought to be a supermassive black hole at the galactic center.
New Views of Our Milky Way Revealed
Credit: Stephane Guisard
This image, showing the center of the Milky Way, from the constellation Sagittarius to the constellation Scorpius, was taken by amateur astronomer and astrophotographer Stephane Guisard.
Where Tomorrow's Stars Will Be Born
Credit: ESO
The center of the Milky Way harbors a supermassive black hole more than four million times the mass of our sun, about 25,000 light-years from Earth. Sagittarius B2 (Sgr B2) is one of the largest clouds of molecular gas in the Milky Way, shown here as the bright orange-red region at left and center (submillimeter-wavelength ATLASGAL data). This composite image includes infrared data (green and blue) from the Midcourse Space Experiment.
'Downtown' Milky Way
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
A view from the bustling center of our galactic metropolis. Spitzer Space Telescope offers us a fresh, infrared view of the frenzied scene at the center of our Milky Way, revealing what lies behind the dust.
Globular Clusters Found by VISTA Telescope
Credit: ESO/D. Minniti/VVV Team
This image from VISTA is a tiny part of the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) survey that is systematically studying the central parts of the Milky Way in infrared light. In the center lies the faint newly found globular star cluster, VVV CL002. This previously unknown globular, which appears as an inconspicuous concentration of faint stars near the centre of the picture, lies close to the center of the Milky Way.
VISTA Telescope Discovers Two New Globular Clusters
Credit: ESO/D. Minniti/VVV Team
This image from VISTA is a tiny part of the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) survey that is systematically studying the central parts of the Milky Way in infrared light. On the right lies the globular star cluster UKS 1 and on the left lies a much less conspicuous new discovery, VVV CL001 — a previously unknown globular, one of just 160 known globular clusters in the Milky Way at this time.
The Southern Milky Way
Credit: Joe Rao
The dark Coalsack is readily apparent in the middle of the image. The stars Alpha Centauri (the closest star to our solar system at 4.3-light years away) and Beta Century are to the left of the Coalsack, while the famous Southern Cross (Crux) is poised just above and to the right of the Coalsack. The Southern Milky Way is far more spectacular than the Milky Way that those of us situated north of the equator can ever see. Taken from La Serena, Chile on April 6, 1986.
Give It a Whirl
Stars in the Milky Way.
Black Hole Grabs Planet-Sized Snack
Credit: NASA/CXC/Caltech/M.Muno et al.
This set of Chandra images shows evidence for a light echo generated by the Milky Way's supermassive black hole, a.k.a. Sagittarius A* (pronounced "A-star").
A Billion Stars Hiding in Milky Way
Credit: NASA/RXTE-COBE/Revnivtsev et al.
Image of the galactic X-ray background superimposed on an image of infrared sources. The X-rays, shown as white contour lines, were detected by NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. Everything else is the infrared background. The white knots reveal very bright X-ray sources, mostly from black hole and neutron star activity.
Milky Way's Galactic Center
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/CXC/STScI.
A multi-wavelength image of the Milky Way's center. It is towards the galactic center where the highest number of stars and rocky planets reside, but also where the most supernovae occur.
Cosmic Finger Taps Our Galaxy's Shoulder
Credit: John Rowe Animations
The leading arm of gas streaming from the Magellanic Clouds is piercing the disk of the Milky Way.
Milky Way Expected to Survive a Beating
Credit: Stelios Kazantzidis, Ohio State University
This image from a supercomputer simulation shows the density of dark matter in our Milky Way galaxy, with yellow being densest and blue-black showing areas of least density. The bright central region corresponds roughly to the Milky Way's luminous matter of gas and stars, and the bright clumps outside indicate dark-matter satellites orbiting the Milky Way.
The Milky Way Is Weighed
Credit: SDSS Collaboration, Axel Quetz, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Heidelberg.
By measuring the speeds of distant stars, researchers estimated the mass of the Milky Way's dark matter halo (indicated in dim red), finding it to be much slimmer than previously thought.
Baby Stars Found in Galactic Center
Credit: NASA/JPL Caltech/S. V. Ramirez (NExSCI/Caltech)
The yellow circles show the young stars that were detected in the chaotic environment at the Milky Way's center.
Streams of Stars Reveal Cannibal Nature of Milky Way
Credit: Caltech
Three new streams of stars were discovered ringing the Milky Way. The two closest streams are thought to be star clusters, while the huge arcing stream is thought to be a dwarf galaxy.
Earth Biodiversity Pattern May Trace Back to Bobbing Solar System Path
Credit: Mikhail Medvedev, courtesy of Dimitra Atri
As the sun orbits around the center of the Milky Way, it bobs up and down relative to the plane of the galactic disk. Every 64 million years, our solar system pops above the "northern" edge of the disk, exposing Earth to a barrage of dangerous cosmic rays that may be affecting biodiversity on the planet.
Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy Collision
Credit: James Gitlin
An artist's rendition of the collision between the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy. The results, however, may be more atypical than previously expected.
Large-scale Flows in Milky Way Halo
Credit: A. Feild/STScI
Clouds of gas that rain down upon the Milky Way form from a variety of sources. Some drift between galaxies in space. Others are recycled from supernovas, whose force ejects them from the galaxy. When gravity acts on these clouds, they bind together to form new stars.
Clumps of Star-forming Cores Across the Sky
Credit: ESA/NASA/JPL-Caltech
This map illustrates the numerous star-forming clouds, called cold cores, that Planck observed throughout our Milky Way galaxy. Planck, a European Space Agency mission with significant NASA participation, detected around 10,000 of these cores, thousands of which had never been seen before.
Milky Way Over Mount Rainier National Park
Credit: Paula Cobleigh
The Milky Way shines over Mount Rainier National Park, Washington in this image sent to SPACE.com. Paula Cobleigh captured the photo on Oct. 25, 2013. Lights from the town of Cle Elum appear in the background. [See full story .]
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Largest Image of the Milky Way
Credit:  Lehrstuhl für Astrophysik, RUB/ http://gds.astro.rub.de/
The Milky Way galaxy is home to 400 billion stars and our own sun and solar system. It is nearly 120,000 light-years across and a shining example of a spiral galaxy. See some of the most amazing views of our Milky Way galaxy ever captured by amateur and professional astronomers in this SPACE.com gallery. HERE: A section of the  Milky Way drawn from what researchers say is the largest astronomical image ever compiled, a huge mosaic of from five years of telescope observations of the galaxy. Read the full story behind the Milky Way view here .
Milky Way Over Old Windmill by Sean Parker
The Milky Way arches over an old windmill near Paulden, Arizona. Astrophotographer Sean Parker sent this image to SAPCE.com on Dec. 30, 2013. [ Read the story behind the photo here ]
Milky Way Over Joshua Tree National Park
Credit:   Shreenivasan Manievannan
Astrophotographer Shreenivasan Manievannan sent in a photo of the Milky Way arching over a rock arch in Joshua Tree National Park, California. Photo submitted May 1, 2014.
Milky Way Panorama Kamble
Credit:  Amit Ashok Kamble
Night sky photographer Amit Ashok Kamble captured this amazing panorama of the Milky Way over Pakiri Beach, New Zealand by stitching 10 images together into a complete mosaic. Image submitted May 5, 2014. [ Read the Full Story Here ]
Eta Aquarid Meteor and the Milky Way
Credit:  Mike Taylor/ Taylor Photography
Astrophotographer Mike Taylor sent in a photo of an Eta Aquarid fireball meteor with a green tail streaking through the sky with the Milky Way and reflections in a pond, taken on May 6, 2014. Taylor is based in central Maine.
Milky Way Reflections
Credit:  Amit Ashok Kamble
Astrophotographer Amit Ashok Kamble sent in a photo of the Milky Way and its reflection in a pool, taken in Pakiri, New Zealand. Photo submitted May 5, 2014. [ Read the Full Story Here ]
Milky Way Rises Over Lighthouse by A. Garrett Evans
Credit:  A. Garrett Evans | www.facebook.com/AGEvansPhotography
A. Garrett Evans sent Space.com this 9-shot panorama of the Milky Way rising over Cape Neddick Lighthouse in York, Maine on March 3, 2014. The photo covers nearly 180 degrees and was taken with a Canon 6D camera, Canon 16-35mm @ 16mm, ISO 4000, f/2.8, 30 sec. [ See the Story Behind This Photo Here ]
Frosty Drew Milky Way
Credit: Frosty Drew | Scott MacNeill
This image of the Milky Way was taken by amateur astronomer Scott MacNeill from Frosty Drew Observatory in Charlestown, Rhode Island. [ Read the Full Story Here ]
Milky Way, Green Airglow Over Isle of Wight
Credit:  Chad Powell | Isle of Wight Milky Way Photography | www.isleofwightmilkyway.com
The Milky Way and green airglow are captured over the Isle of Wight in this image taken by Chad Powell on Oct. 4, 2013, using a Canon 6D camera (25 seconds, f/2.8, 20mm, and ISO 4000). [ Read the Story Behind the Photo Here ]
Present and Early Milky Way Montage Illustration
Credit:  NASA, ESA, and Z. Levay (STScI)
What a difference 11 billion years makes, as can be seen in these two comparative views of our Milky Way galaxy. The top view shows how our galaxy looks today; the bottom view, how it appeared in the remote past. This photo illustration is based on a Hubble Space Telescope survey of evolving Milky Way-type galaxies. [ Read the Full Story Here ]
Illustration of Early Milky Way
Credit:  NASA, ESA, and Z. Levay (STScI/AURA)
This is an imaginary view of our young Milky Way as it may have appeared 11 billion years ago, as seen from the surface of a hypothetical planet. The night sky looks markedly different than the view today. The Milky Way's disk and central bulge of stars are smaller and dimmer because the galaxy is in an early phase of construction. The heavens are ablaze with a firestorm of new star formation, seen in the pinkish nebulae glowing from stars still wrapped inside their natal cocoons. The handful of stars visible in the night sky are blue and bright because they are young. [ Read the Full Story Here ]
Milky Way Over Maui Space Surveillance Complex
Credit:  U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III/ Airman Magazine
The Milky Way over the Maui Space Surveillance Complex. Maui's climate provides virtually year-round viewing conditions made possible due to the dry, clean air and minimal scattered light from surface sources, which enable visibility exceeding 150 km.
Milky Way Over Space Surveillance Refractive Telescope Housing
Credit:  U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III/ Airman Magazine
The Milky Way seen over the housing of one of the Air Force's two 1.2 meter refractive telescopes at the Maui Space Surveillance Complex. The MSSS provides an unequaled opportunity to the Air Force's scientific community by combining state-of-the-art satellite tracking with a facility supporting research and development.
Old Tree Points at the Milky Way
Credit:  Shenandoah Sanchez
Photographer Shenandoah Sanchez sent in a photo of the Milky Way taken along the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park, VA. The tree was light-painted with a flashlight. Image submitted Nov. 6, 2013.
Milky Way over Lake Superior
Credit:  Shawn Malone
Skywatcher Shawn Malone sent in this photo of the Milky Way taken during the weekend of April 28-29, 2012, from the shore of Lake Superior. She writes: "The Milky Way was eye poppingly bright."
Milky Way Glows Over Hawaiʻi's Halemaʻumaʻu Crater
Quek ZongYe of Singapore captured this image of the Milky Way glowing over Hawaiʻi's Halemaʻumaʻu Crater on Sept. 12, 2012. The image was released on Oct. 14, 2013. [ Read the Story Behind the Photo Here ]
ESO Alma Telescopes and the Milky Way
Credit:  ESO/José Francisco Salgado
Four of the European Southern Observatory's Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) antennas gaze up at the night sky. Milky Way is visible at left.
The Milky Way over the 1.54-Meter Danish Telescope at La Silla
Credit:  ESO/Z. Bardon/ProjectSoft
The Milky Way shines over the 1.54-meter Danish telescope at La Silla, Chile.
Echinopsis Atacamensis and the Milky Way
Credit:  ESO/S. Guisard
The Milky Way is seen in all its glory, as well as, in the lower right, the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Before the Meteor Rush
Credit:  Tamas Ladanyi ( www.astrophoto.hu )
This bright Perseid meteor streaking through skies near Lake Balaton, Hungary on August 8, 2010, served as advance guard for the meteor shower that was scheduled to peak a few days later. In the foreground stands the region's Church of St. Andrew ruin, with bright Jupiter dominating the sky to its right. Two galaxies lie in the background: our own Milky Way, and the faint smudge of the more distant Andromeda Galaxy just above the ruin's leftmost wall.
3,000 Images Combine for Stunning Milky Way Portrait
Credit:  Dr. Axel Mellinger
Axel Mellinger, of Central Michigan University, created this panorama of the Milky Way from 3,000 individual photographs that he melded together with mathematical models.
3 Telescopes Combine for Stunning Milky Way Photo
Credit:  NASA, ESA, SSC, CXC, and STScI
In this spectacular image, observations using infrared light and X-ray light see through the obscuring dust and reveal the intense activity near the galactic core of the Milky Way. The image combines pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Milky Way Skyscape over Mangaia
Credit:  Tunc Tezel
This heavenly view of the Milky Way was taken in the South Pacific paradise of Mangaia, the most southerly of the Cook Islands. This image was chosen as one of the winners of the National Maritime Museum's Astrophotographer of the Year 2011 Contest.
Shot Through the Heart
Credit:  ESO/Yuri Beletsky
Three of the four 8.2-m telescopes forming ESO's VLT are seen dimly, with a laser beaming out from Yepun, Unit Telescope number 4. The laser points at the Galactic Center of the Milky Way, our galaxy. The bright object at center is Jupiter, while the other is Antares.
Paranal-mal Activity
Credit:  ESO
The Milky Way shines in all its majesty, as well as the Magellanic Clouds on the right. Some of the docking stations for the Auxiliary Telescopes of the VLTI lie in the foreground.
Star Streams of Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy
Credit:  Amanda Smith, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge
Artist's concept of the four tails of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy (orange clump on left of the image) orbiting the Milky Way. The bright yellow circle to the right of the Milky Way's center is our sun (not to scale). We can see the Sagittarius galaxy's star tails stretching across the sky.
The Milky Way over the Isle of Sark
Credit:  Martin Morgan-Taylor
Stargazers on the Isle of Sark, in the Channel Islands off the coast of England, enjoy the wonder of the Milky Way.
World's Largest Milky Way Image Unveiled
Credit:  NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Wisconsin
A section of the largest image of the Milky Way ever created. It was stitched together from 800,000 individual infrared images taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
Are the Stars Out Tonight?
Credit:  ESO/Y. Beletsky
Wednesday, April 6, 2011: In Chile's Atacama Desert, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds — satellite galaxies of our own — glow brightly at the left. The Milky Way, our galaxy, appears brightly on the horizon, while the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope stands at the right.
--Tom Chao
The Milky Way Above Seigneur's Mill on Sark
Credit:  Martin Morgan-Taylor
The Milky Way glows above Seigneur's Mill on Sark.
Milky Way Canary Islands
Credit:  Terje Sorgjerd (www.tesophotography.com)
A still from a time-lapse video made by photographer Terje Sorgjerd  of the night sky as seen from the Canary Islands.
Milky Way’s Central Structure Seen with Fresh Clarity
Credit:  NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC/Caltech)
An artist's rendering of the Milky Way and its central bar structure, with the Sun's position noted.
Rebel Stars Cross Paths with Sun
Credit:  S. Kerroudj, B. Famaey & A. Jorissen (Université Libre de Bruxelles)
A simulated view of the Milky Way. Spiral arms contain higher concentrations of stars and gas. Each arm is a density wave that can reroute stars. The Sun is near the edge of one arm, about halfway out from the galactic center, or 26,000 light-years.
Exiled Stars: Milky Way Boots Members
Credit:  The SDSS Collaboration
A photos of one of the newfound stellar exiles.
Milky Way's Formation Theory Questioned
Credit:  Extracted from ESO Science Archive and processed by Henri Boffin (ESO).
Part of one of the four regions of the sky in the direction of the galactic bulge in which the astronomers measured the iron and oxygen content of stars.
Ancient Outburst of Milky Way's Black Hole Discovered
Credit:  NASA/CXC/MIT/F.K. Baganoff et al.
This Chandra image shows our Galaxy’s center. The location of the black hole, known as Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A* for short, is arrowed. Also marked on this image are newly discovered large lobes of multimillion-degree gas that extend for dozens of light years on either side of the black hole.
Bursts Spotted at Milky Way's Black Hole
Credit:  ESO/APEX/2MASS/A. Eckart et al.
This is a color composite image of the central region of our Milky Way galaxy, about 26,000 light years from Earth. Giant clouds of gas and dust are shown in blue, as detected by the LABOCA instrument on the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope at submillimetre wavelengths (870 micron). The image also contains near-infrared data from the 2MASS project at K-band (in red), H-band (in green), and J-band (in blue). The image shows a region approximately 100 light-years wide.
New Photos of Milky Way From New Space Telescope
Credit:  ESA and the SPIRE & PACS consortia
This composite image of star-forming gas clouds in the Milky Way was taken by the recently launched Hershel telescope, and released Oct. 2, 2009.
New Observations Detail Milky Way's Big Black Hole
Credit:  ESO/S. Gillessen et al.
This infrared image shows the center of our galaxy and the stars orbiting what is thought to be a supermassive black hole at the galactic center.
New Views of Our Milky Way Revealed
Credit:  Stephane Guisard
This image, showing the center of the Milky Way, from the constellation Sagittarius to the constellation Scorpius, was taken by amateur astronomer and astrophotographer Stephane Guisard.
Where Tomorrow's Stars Will Be Born
Credit:  ESO
The center of the Milky Way harbors a supermassive black hole more than four million times the mass of our sun, about 25,000 light-years from Earth. Sagittarius B2 (Sgr B2) is one of the largest clouds of molecular gas in the Milky Way, shown here as the bright orange-red region at left and center (submillimeter-wavelength ATLASGAL data). This composite image includes infrared data (green and blue) from the Midcourse Space Experiment.
'Downtown' Milky Way
Credit:  NASA/JPL-Caltech
A view from the bustling center of our galactic metropolis. Spitzer Space Telescope offers us a fresh, infrared view of the frenzied scene at the center of our Milky Way, revealing what lies behind the dust.
Globular Clusters Found by VISTA Telescope
Credit:  ESO/D. Minniti/VVV Team
This image from VISTA is a tiny part of the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) survey that is systematically studying the central parts of the Milky Way in infrared light. In the center lies the faint newly found globular star cluster, VVV CL002. This previously unknown globular, which appears as an inconspicuous concentration of faint stars near the centre of the picture, lies close to the center of the Milky Way.
VISTA Telescope Discovers Two New Globular Clusters
Credit:  ESO/D. Minniti/VVV Team
This image from VISTA is a tiny part of the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) survey that is systematically studying the central parts of the Milky Way in infrared light. On the right lies the globular star cluster UKS 1 and on the left lies a much less conspicuous new discovery, VVV CL001 — a previously unknown globular, one of just 160 known globular clusters in the Milky Way at this time.
The Southern Milky Way
Credit:  Joe Rao
The dark Coalsack is readily apparent in the middle of the image. The stars Alpha Centauri (the closest star to our solar system at 4.3-light years away) and Beta Century are to the left of the Coalsack, while the famous Southern Cross (Crux) is poised just above and to the right of the Coalsack. The Southern Milky Way is far more spectacular than the Milky Way that those of us situated north of the equator can ever see. Taken from La Serena, Chile on April 6, 1986.
Give It a Whirl
Stars in the Milky Way.
Black Hole Grabs Planet-Sized Snack
Credit:  NASA/CXC/Caltech/M.Muno et al.
This set of Chandra images shows evidence for a light echo generated by the Milky Way's supermassive black hole, a.k.a. Sagittarius A* (pronounced "A-star").
A Billion Stars Hiding in Milky Way
Credit:  NASA/RXTE-COBE/Revnivtsev et al.
Image of the galactic X-ray background superimposed on an image of infrared sources. The X-rays, shown as white contour lines, were detected by NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. Everything else is the infrared background. The white knots reveal very bright X-ray sources, mostly from black hole and neutron star activity.
Milky Way's Galactic Center
Credit:  NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/CXC/STScI.
A multi-wavelength image of the Milky Way's center. It is towards the galactic center where the highest number of stars and rocky planets reside, but also where the most supernovae occur.
Cosmic Finger Taps Our Galaxy's Shoulder
Credit:  John Rowe Animations
The leading arm of gas streaming from the Magellanic Clouds is piercing the disk of the Milky Way.
Milky Way Expected to Survive a Beating
Credit:  Stelios Kazantzidis, Ohio State University
This image from a supercomputer simulation shows the density of dark matter in our Milky Way galaxy, with yellow being densest and blue-black showing areas of least density. The bright central region corresponds roughly to the Milky Way's luminous matter of gas and stars, and the bright clumps outside indicate dark-matter satellites orbiting the Milky Way.
The Milky Way Is Weighed
Credit:  SDSS Collaboration, Axel Quetz, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Heidelberg.
By measuring the speeds of distant stars, researchers estimated the mass of the Milky Way's dark matter halo (indicated in dim red), finding it to be much slimmer than previously thought.
Baby Stars Found in Galactic Center
Credit:  NASA/JPL Caltech/S. V. Ramirez (NExSCI/Caltech)
The yellow circles show the young stars that were detected in the chaotic environment at the Milky Way's center.
Streams of Stars Reveal Cannibal Nature of Milky Way
Credit:  Caltech
Three new streams of stars were discovered ringing the Milky Way. The two closest streams are thought to be star clusters, while the huge arcing stream is thought to be a dwarf galaxy.
Earth Biodiversity Pattern May Trace Back to Bobbing Solar System Path
Credit:  Mikhail Medvedev, courtesy of Dimitra Atri
As the sun orbits around the center of the Milky Way, it bobs up and down relative to the plane of the galactic disk. Every 64 million years, our solar system pops above the "northern" edge of the disk, exposing Earth to a barrage of dangerous cosmic rays that may be affecting biodiversity on the planet.
Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy Collision
Credit:  James Gitlin
An artist's rendition of the collision between the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy. The results, however, may be more atypical than previously expected.
Large-scale Flows in Milky Way Halo
Credit:  A. Feild/STScI
Clouds of gas that rain down upon the Milky Way form from a variety of sources. Some drift between galaxies in space. Others are recycled from supernovas, whose force ejects them from the galaxy. When gravity acts on these clouds, they bind together to form new stars.
Clumps of Star-forming Cores Across the Sky
Credit:  ESA/NASA/JPL-Caltech
This map illustrates the numerous star-forming clouds, called cold cores, that Planck observed throughout our Milky Way galaxy. Planck, a European Space Agency mission with significant NASA participation, detected around 10,000 of these cores, thousands of which had never been seen before.
Milky Way Over Mount Rainier National Park
Credit:  Paula Cobleigh
The Milky Way shines over Mount Rainier National Park, Washington in this image sent to SPACE.com. Paula Cobleigh captured the photo on Oct. 25, 2013. Lights from the town of Cle Elum appear in the background. [See full story .]