The Milky Way so close you can almost taste it: Breath-taking snaps of the galaxy

[StanScratch]

When I was a kid, I used to be able to lie in my parents' back yard and stare into the sky at such a sight (without the ocean, tragically). I mean, I could literally see the Milky Way - I could see the bands of stars and the belts of dust. It's a sight I sorely miss.


FYI, the lights moving across the horizon in the video are from a shipping route (Australian). This was a subject of discussion on the Astronomy Picture of the Day forum.

 

[D-rock]

People can do this themselves with a little knowledge and a good camera. It's amazing to see the actual wide view of the milky way when the camera has absorbed significant light from it. It really looks like the cross section of our galaxy that is seen in magazines and on the Internet.