Thus, when you see the Milky Way with your unaided eye, you don't see a uniform glow, but a bright glow that is interrupted by dark patches. The images above show just a sampling of the part of the Milky Way that is visible from a particular site by a typical camera.
An interesting question to answer is: How would the Milky Way look if we could see the entire sky all at once? We can use the same techniques that mapmakers use to represent the entire Earth on a flat map to show you how the entire sky looks.
For example, here is a projection of the globe of the Earth:. In this map of the Earth, you can see the entire globe and all of the continents and oceans represented inside of the elliptical boundary. Although this particular map projection is not used as much anymore for maps of the Earth, astronomers often use this same projection of the three-dimensional sky onto a two-dimensional picture when they want to represent the whole sky in a single picture.
Below are several examples of these Aitoff projections of the whole sky. There is a common feature in all of these images. The Milky Way is seen as a mostly flat, irregularly-shaped feature that stretches from side to side of every image. This tells us that if we could follow the Milky Way below our personal view of the horizon, it would be seen as a ring completely encircling the Earth.
There are obviously some stars outside of this ring, but there are fewer of them the caption for the map of half a billion stars points out that in some parts of the sky there are , stars per square degree, while in others there are only stars per square degree.
I also included two links to images of the whole sky using different wavelengths of light: infrared and radio waves. The reason for this choice is because I wanted to demonstrate that the Milky Way looks different when observed in different kinds of light. Heralded by hundreds of eager astronomers for its dark skies, this rugged acre state park is surrounded by the ,acre Susquehannock State Forest.
Stop by the Night Sky Viewing Area , complete with a backlit summer sky map. Just be warned: No white light is permitted in this area of the park, so come prepared with a red light.
Big Bend boasts the least light pollution of any national park in the Lower Look up into the same night sky that ancient Chacoan civilizations gazed up to at this national park. Chaco is the fourth unit in the national park system to earn the International Dark Sky Park distinction , and at the gold-tier level, which means it not only looks dark now, but, thanks to measures like improved outdoor lighting, it will stay that way for years to come.
Natural Bridges Monument, Utah. Death Valley National Park, California. Cherry Springs State Park, Pennsylvania. For us in the UK, therefore, the dark nights of late winter and early spring are the not the best time to see the Milky Way.
However, in the opposite direction, towards Sagittarius and Scorpius we are looking directly into the teeming centre of our Galaxy. More dust, more gas and more stars create a river of light here, making it bigger and brighter. The evenings of autumn are the best time to view this celestial stream. How do we know all of this? And once we could peer into the skies with radio and infrared telescopes, we saw through the Galactic dust and gas that blocked our eyes to reveal the structure beyond.
Did you know that the Milky Way is set to merge with the neighbouring Andromeda Galaxy? Find out more in our guide to the Andromeda-Milky Way collision. Even though the Milky Way can be seen from mildly light-polluted areas, it will only be visible here as a brighter wash across the night sky. To truly view its amazing structure and detail in high contrast, look at it from a really dark location. Best seen: August and September.
A lovely Milky Way section runs the length of this constellation. This means that there is much to look out for — dark rifts and brighter patches galore. Another fine, diverse area of the Milky Way, made more glorious by the bright Double Cluster in Perseus. These two galactic star clusters form a perfectly sized object for binocular viewing, and what a truly stunning target it is: two concentrated clumps of stars sitting within the melee of Galactic star clouds that surround it.
A star cluster that can just about be seen with unaided eyes under clear skies. Best seen: September to December. This wonderful planetary nebula , looking like a glowing misty oval, is well worth a look; nearby stars and the marvellous backdrop of the Milky Way complete the view.
It sits prettily in the constellation Vulpecula. It would be hard to find a better double star in the sky than Albireo. The colours are golden Albireo A and blue Albireo B and it sits in a lovely galactic field of faint stars.
The two components are easily separated with a small scope. What are your favourite Milky Way sights? Have you managed to capture a good Milky Way nightscape? Let us know by emailing contactus skyatnightmagazine. Anton Vamplew is an amateur astronomer, author and lecturer.
The Milky Way over Exmoor. Credit: Keith Trueman.
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