Special time, special place
For those of you living between 35N and 45N (basically Nashville through Toronto) this is a very special time of the year. Around 9-12 in late april/early May something neat happens in the sky. This happens later in the night from about late January onwards, but this is the time it is most accessible to those who want to keep a normal sleep schedule :)
Throughout the year you have stars but you also have at least one of the arms of the milky way galaxy stretching across, even if you can't see it. Except for during the times I mentioned above. The galaxy itself appears as a ring around the horizon or just below it. The parts above are so washed out by the horizon that they vanish leaving only their bright stars. Looking upwards, you are looking outbound nowhere but up and out of our galaxy. Those stars you see are the only thing between us and the deepest black void of intergalactic space. That is why my pics from yesterday were nothing but stars and few if any fuzzy objects. The fuzzies in that direction are galaxies and you need a powerful zoom and a long exposure to capture those. I always have to wonder what it would be like to be living on a world around one of those stars at the top or bottom of our galactic plane. There would be times you see the stars of the galaxy, and times when you look up and see a yawning blackness with few if any stars.
You can get the same effect in the Autumn in the southern hemisphere though you need to be a little deeper south (45-55 maybe). In their case, they are looking outbound in the opposite direction. However they have two objects that way we don't, the large and small Magellanic clouds, two dwarf galaxies that are close enough to see unaided. But for us northeners in spring, looking up is looking through a few stars into the deep infinity beyond with nothing "cloudy" or fuzzy to block our way.
Throughout the year you have stars but you also have at least one of the arms of the milky way galaxy stretching across, even if you can't see it. Except for during the times I mentioned above. The galaxy itself appears as a ring around the horizon or just below it. The parts above are so washed out by the horizon that they vanish leaving only their bright stars. Looking upwards, you are looking outbound nowhere but up and out of our galaxy. Those stars you see are the only thing between us and the deepest black void of intergalactic space. That is why my pics from yesterday were nothing but stars and few if any fuzzy objects. The fuzzies in that direction are galaxies and you need a powerful zoom and a long exposure to capture those. I always have to wonder what it would be like to be living on a world around one of those stars at the top or bottom of our galactic plane. There would be times you see the stars of the galaxy, and times when you look up and see a yawning blackness with few if any stars.
You can get the same effect in the Autumn in the southern hemisphere though you need to be a little deeper south (45-55 maybe). In their case, they are looking outbound in the opposite direction. However they have two objects that way we don't, the large and small Magellanic clouds, two dwarf galaxies that are close enough to see unaided. But for us northeners in spring, looking up is looking through a few stars into the deep infinity beyond with nothing "cloudy" or fuzzy to block our way.