Milky Way, above Uluru in Australia
Stefan Liebermann / Mauritius Images GmbH / Alay
Because I’m based on the Northern Hemisphere, my suggestions on what skies are looking at once we can see from half the planet. So, in the column this month I will focus on a part of our sky with no doubt the best when viewed from the southern hemisphere, and especially at this time of the year: The Milky Way.
Every star you see with the naked eye belongs to our galaxy, which means when you see stars, you see inside the Milky Way. So if the stargazers refers to the milky way, they mean bulge full of stars and dust sitting toward the spiral galaxy center. The Milky Way plane is offset from the plane of our solar system to about 60 degrees, which gives us part of our spiral arm from our seat. It looks like an arc if we see it in heaven because we see it in a three-dimensional, curved “surface”.
The view is better from southern hemisphere, thanks for tailing the ground. Stargazers in the southern half of the planet were kept in the center of galaxy, while in the north, we faced in the middle, toward the midst of the Galaxy of the stars. This means that from the south you will find more than constellations at the center of galaxy, such as Centaurus and Sagtitius.
Wherever you live in the world, the way milk is the best at this time of the year because we’re on the same side of the day as. But in the south, Stargaazers often see more of the milky path due to the tilt of the ground, as well as there is a bonus of cloudy nights at the moment.
According to a Dedado-Old StudyA third of the world’s population cannot see the Milky Way. This is likely that the figure has gone up since then, thanks for further pollution of light. I urge you to see a clear evening with a little sunshine. About 25 June can be perfect, if there is a new month. Go from light pollution and allow at least 40 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the dark. If you are in the northern hemisphere, you can wait until midnight so it can be dark enough.
Two of the most memorable visiting night in my life happened in southern hemisphere. The first is in New Zealand’s Mount Cook in early June; The second is in the Warrumbule National Park in Australia in April. Both times, fully turned me off to see the Milky Way, described here above Uluru in Australia.
If you go to Stargaze in the southern hemisphere, find the Milky Way. You can also see ahead of it with both our satellite galaxy – the big magellanic cloud and the little magellanic maker. Nor can be seen from the northern hemisphere, but can be seen near the southern celestial pole.
Abigail Beall is a partly New Scientist editor and authors of urban astronomy. Follow his @abbybeal
For other visiting projects Newscientist.com/maker
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