Credit: Matt Smith
Stargazer Sees Milky Way and 5 Planets Dance in the
Night Sky (Photo)
By Nina Sen, Space.com Contributor | February
23, 2016 03:43pm ET
The Milky Way and five planets in one stunning image
took some patience, but paid off handsomely for skywatcher Matt Smith. The
image was taken from Carthage, Texas on February 10, 2016.
The Milky Way and five planets in one stunning image
took some patience, but paid off handsomely for skywatcher Matt Smith.
"I knew that I wanted to get the planetary alignment and try to get the Milky Way as well. I finally
had my opportunity and found a location with a great view of the
Southeast," Smith wrote in an email to Space.com. He took the amazing
image from Carthage, Texas on Feb. 10.
On the far right in the trees you can see the bright
dot of Jupiter. Further left you can make out rust colored Mars and above the
core of the Milky Way you can see Saturn.
Below the core, Venus shines bright, with Mercury near
the first rays of sunrise.
Dust off your spiral arms and fatten up your bulge —
it's time to tap into your inner galaxy to test your smarts about the Milky
Way. Our home in space is a strange and wondrous place that scientists are
still trying to figure out. See what you know!
The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy , meaning multiple "arms" sprout from
a central region and then swirl around it, like streams of water spiraling down
a drain. It stretches between 100, 000 and 120,000 light-years in diameter. It
is estimated that the galaxy has approximately 400 billion stars.
To see more amazing night sky photos submitted
by Space.com readers, visit our astrophotography
archive.
Editor's note: If you have an amazing night sky photo
you'd like to share with us and our news partners for a possible story or
gallery, send images and comments in to spacephotos@space.com.
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