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The Milky Way Panorama
Kodak Pro 400 PPF - Pentax medium format camera, 55mm lens
This panorama of the Milky Way (our galaxy) was assembled from 5 individual photographs. It shows what 1/2 of our galaxy looks like as seen from the central core to one outer edge. This photo was taken from the Northern Hemisphere, so the view is from the constellation Scorpius on the right side, to Cassiopeia at the left. To see a larger image - Click Here
Because we are located toward the outer edge of our spiral galaxy, we have a view in toward the center of our galaxy. this gives us a glimpse of the disk-like structure of spiral galaxies. We see here the great mass of stars at the central bulge, and the thin but still massive disk of stars, gaseous nebulae, dark dust and non-luminous gas lanes reaching out to the outer edge.
It is also interesting to see how, as with most spiral galaxies, the older, cooler stars in the central region emit a more yellow-orange color. The younger, hotter and brighter stars in the outer arms are more blue and white. Many large areas of nebulosity can also be seen as pink or red regions. If you look in the lower left corner, the view out past our galaxy shows the Andromeda Galaxy 2.5 million light years away.
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