Milky Way

Rights Managed

SS287751

P6999

Milky Way with the Scorpius constellation. The Milky Way, our galaxy, is a luminous band in the night sky which is caused by the light of stars which are too numerous to be seen individually. The stars are numerous because a viewer looking in their direction is observing along the plane of our galaxy's disk. The dark areas in the Milky Way are dust clouds which hide the stars behind them. Scorpius (the Scorpion) is centered on the bright, red star Antares at center right. Antares is the scorpion's 'heart'. The 'head' is the bright stars to the upper right of Antares. The 'tail' is the line of bright stars stretching from Antares to lower left. Composite image.

Frank Zullo/Science Source

catalog14