View Full Version : The Milky Way Over Mount Blanc


wet1
09-24-02, 01:53 AM
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0209/lacblanc_sylvestre.jpg

The Milky Way Over Mount Blanc
Credit & Copyright: Marc Sylvestre (Universia)

Have you ever seen the band of our Milky Way Galaxy? Chances are you have never seen it like this -- nor could you. In a clear sky from a dark location at the right time, a faint band of light is visible across the sky. This band is the disk of our spiral galaxy. Since we are inside this disk, the band appears to encircle the Earth. The above spectacular picture is a bit of a digital trick, though. A first shot was taken in July 2000 with the camera counter-rotating from the Earth so that the stars appear fixed. This allowed a long exposure from which a great amount of detail could emerge from the background star field. Later, after moonrise, a much shorter image was taken from the same location catching details of Mount Blanc, the highest mountain in Western Europe. Reflections in the water were later enhanced digitally.

Pollux V
09-24-02, 06:33 AM
I WISH it looked like that, to me. (forrest gump voice) and that's all I got to say about that.

Thor
09-24-02, 07:10 AM
Why can't the night sky look like that? That would encourage me to brave the darkness and venture out more

grazzhoppa
09-24-02, 07:43 AM
I don't understand how they did that...they took 2 pictures and imposed them on each other? So the sky actually looked like that?

Rav
09-28-02, 12:54 AM
The camera would have been placed on some kind of machanical tripod that followed the stars across the sky so they didn't move relative to it. The shutter would have remained open for a considerable period of time allowing the film to be exposed to more light than we are capable of perceiving through the use of our eyes.

What a sight it would be though, if we could see our region of the universe in such detail. It would be a genuinely religious experience as far as I am concerned. Totally mind blowing!

grazzhoppa
09-28-02, 11:28 AM
Thanks Rav!

That's amazing that they can do that.

Walker
09-28-02, 11:38 AM
Pretty neat.