Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2021 July 3 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Along the Milky Way Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Rolf Weisenfeld Explanation: You can't [5]walk along the Milky Way. Still, under a dark sky [6]you can explore it. To the eye the pale luminous trail of light arcing through the sky on a dark, moonless night does appear to be a path through the heavens. The glowing celestial band is the faint, collective [7]light of distant stars cut by swaths of obscuring interstellar dust clouds. It lies along the plane of [8]our home galaxy, so named because it looks like a milky way. Since Galileo's time, the Milky Way has been revealed to telescopic skygazers to be filled with [9]congeries of innumerable stars and [10]cosmic wonders. Tomorrow's picture: Facing Mars __________________________________________________________________ [11]< | [12]Archive | [13]Submissions | [14]Index | [15]Search | [16]Calendar | [17]RSS | [18]Education | [19]About APOD | [20]Discuss | [21]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [22]Robert Nemiroff ([23]MTU) & [24]Jerry Bonnell ([25]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [26]Specific rights apply. [27]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [28]ASD at [29]NASA / [30]GSFC & [31]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2107/Walk_Milkyway.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://weisenfeld.net/ 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130601.html 6. https://www.astrobin.com/xcb5dn/B/ 7. https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/blueshift/index.php/2015/07/22/how-many-stars-in-the-milky-way/ 8. https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/milkyway1.html 9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidereus_Nuncius#Stars 10. https://illuminateduniverse.org/ 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210702.html 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 15. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 20. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=210703 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210704.html 22. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 25. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 27. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 28. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 29. https://www.nasa.gov/ 30. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 31. http://www.mtu.edu/