Dark Sky Opportunity

The Milky Way takes its name from the Greek myth about the goddess Hera who sprayed milk across the sky. In other cultures our galaxy goes by other names.  In Asia it is called thhe Silver River and in Southern Africa it is call the Backbone of Night. 

There is a new moon tonight and if you read Forbes this is a Window Of Opportunity for those of us who live in the northern hemisphere to take-in the Milky Way. 

I happen to live almost halfway between the equator and the North Pole so my geographic positioning combined with the dark sky of a new moon have got me planning to drag the telescope outside.

The Milky Way is a ginormous collection of stars, dust and gas.  It is a spiral galaxy because if you could view it from above or from the side it would appear like this.

Our sun is located on one of the spiral arms about 25,000 light years from the center,

Consider this.  Starting now the Milky Way will be visible by 10 PM and will be directly overhead by midnight.  Generally-speaking, summer is the best opportunity to view the Milky Way and August is the best month.

It is estimated that 100 to 400 billion stars comprise the Milky Way.  In our night sky you may be able to see as many as 6000 with the naked eye.