APOD: Venus, Zodiacal Light, and the... (2013 Oct 18)

[APOD Robot]

Venus, Zodiacal Light, and the Galactic Center

Explanation: The bulging center of our Milky Way Galaxy rests on a pillar of light in this luminous skyscape. Recorded on September 22nd in dark South African skies, rivers of dust seem to flow downward from the galactic center towards Antares, yellowish alpha star of the constellation Scorpius, near the top of the scene. The brightest celestial beacon present is not a star at all though, but planet Venus, still dominant in the western sky after sunset. Of course, the pillar of light stretching upward from the horizon is Zodiacal light. Sunlight scattered by dust along the plane of the ecliptic creates the zodiacal glow, prominent in the evening after twilight during the southern hemisphere spring.

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[Beyond]

Gee, things in this thread are starting to come in threes. I wonder if a certain candy bar will show up.

[RichardSRussell]

Welcome back, APOD!

I missed you during the government shutdown.

I'm sorry your bosses didn't think you were essential.

I love you anyway.

[sffilmstagemusic]

Good Evening: Hey, welcome back! Nice to see the main server up and running again. Also like how the three words that don't belong form a phrase of their own.

[RedFishBlueFish]

Welcome back!

Have been using a mirror - but it is SO nice that the self-serving posturing unintelligent worthless salacious and mendacious idiots with whom we have entrusted the governing of our nation have finally ended their "ME, ME, ME" temper-tantrum and people can get back to work.

APOD remains my absolute favorite website, and I am grateful to those who create it and to NASA for serving it.

It is things like this for which I am happy to pay my taxes.

[neufer]

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The bulging center of our Milky Way Galaxy rests on a pillow of light

[Beyond]

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The bulging center of our Milky Way Galaxy rests on a pillow of light

Must be the nougat in the Milky Ways bar Nougat is a light substance.

[neufer]

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The bulging center of our Milky Way Galaxy rests on a pillow of light

Must be the nougat in the Milky Ways bar Nougat is a light substance.

A light substance for 'Neufer'

("The word nougat comes from Latin nux gatum 'nut cake'.")

[Jochen]

Welcome back also from Germany!

And I just noticed that the past days are not lost, I have so many wonderful pictures all on one day - thank you, thank you, thank you!

Best regards
Jochen

[Guest]

Thank goodness APOD is back, my mornings go so much better with Astronomy!

[StarCuriousAero]

Woohoo! I don't have to click through 4 links to get to APOD anymore! Everyone else I know just seems to be glad the panda cam is back, glad that I'm not the only one who missed NASA.

Oh, and beautiful pic by the way, love these types of shots.

[Beyond]

("The word nougat comes from Latin nux gatum 'nut cake'.")

I didn't know that. But as the saying goes, IF the shoe fits, er, Let them eat cake, er, Look! It's a bird, it's a plane, it's... it's neufer tripping through the light-fantastic

[Boomer12k]

At what latitude does the sky turn upside down? On the equator, or 10-20 degrees....just where is the demarcation point?

Thanks.

really nice pic of the Central Milky Way and dust and objects...

:---[===] *

[Nitpicker]

At what latitude does the sky turn upside down? On the equator, or 10-20 degrees....just where is the demarcation point?

Thanks.

really nice pic of the Central Milky Way and dust and objects...

:---[===] *

The latitude doesn't really matter. If you face South (the direction for standard astronomical reckoning) the sky is the "right way up". If you face North, the sky is "upside down" -- this is the way I normally observe the Ecliptic from South of the Equator, but then my telescope kindly inverts things for me (or sometimes, when I'm feeling flexible, I face South and bend over backwards). Please don't ask about East or West.

Between the Tropic lines, one experiences a so-called "mini winter" at mid-Summer. And right at the Equator, the Sun is highest at Equinox. Weird things happen in the Tropics.

[Trent158]

It's wonderful to have the best web site on the Internet back on line. I have my home page again! Keep up the good work.

[Chris Peterson]

The latitude doesn't really matter. If you face South (the direction for standard astronomical reckoning) the sky is the "right way up". If you face North, the sky is "upside down".

Not sure where this is coming from. The astronomical convention is north up, east left. That's what you get when you lie on your back with your feet pointing south. Is that what you mean by facing south? Virtually all star charts are plotted with north up.

[Guest]

Thank you for this and for all your breathtaking pictures. I'm filled with joy (really) by the return of APOD (and, I assume, NASA) after the break caused by goings-on in Washington DC which I couldn't even comprehend. We "aliens" love NASA too and especially the APOD team. Very best wishes and please take care.

[Nitpicker]

The latitude doesn't really matter. If you face South (the direction for standard astronomical reckoning) the sky is the "right way up". If you face North, the sky is "upside down".

Not sure where this is coming from. The astronomical convention is north up, east left. That's what you get when you lie on your back with your feet pointing south. Is that what you mean by facing south? Virtually all star charts are plotted with north up.

I agree with North up and East left, when you look at a star chart in celestial coordinates. I think we are talking about the same thing.

When you go outside and stand up and face South (or lie down with feet pointing South), then when you look upwards in the sky, North is up, South is down, East is left and West is right. This is standard/common astronomical reckoning (where an azimuth of zero points South). It probably stems from when you think of a plan map of the Ecliptic, you conventionally look "down" on the Ecliptic in a Southward direction (similar to the perspective when you stand on the North Pole, I suppose).

However, when you face North (or lie down with feet pointing North) and look upwards in the sky, North is down, South is up, East is right and West is left. This is an "upside down" sky.

[Nitpicker]

(For clarity, I shouldn't have mentioned the term "standard astronomical reckoning" as it is irrelevant to my point, and is most likely a dated term. These days, most people consider an azimuth of zero to point North.)