A sky stuffed with stars
The Nationwide Science Basis’s NOIRLab says that – with our unaided eyes – we will see about 6,000 stars out of round 200 billion that reside in our Milky Way galaxy. And on March 6, 2024, NOIRLab launched a brand new picture from atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii that completely teems with stars.
The star clouds of the Milky Way on the horizon meet with clouds in Earth’s environment that block the sunshine air pollution from neighboring cities beneath. The observatory is above the cloud deck, offering astronomers a darker and clearer night time.
On the best facet of the picture, the white glow arcing upward is the zodiacal light. It was lengthy regarded as interplanetary dust leftover from the formation of the solar system. However new analysis says it could as an alternative be daylight glinting off dust launched from Mars’ many dust storms. March is a superb time to see the zodiacal mild! Discover ways to see it here.
On the left facet of the picture is one other shiny spot on the sky, although not as shiny because the zodiacal mild. This spot of brightness is the gegenschein. Gegenschein is a counterglow you possibly can solely see in very darkish skies. It lies reverse the sun within the sky. It truly is brought on by daylight reflecting off interplanetary dust.
Backside line: See a brand new picture of the skies above Hawaii from the Gemini North Observatory atop Mauna Kea. What number of stars are you able to see?
Read more: How many stars can you see on a moonless night?
Read more: Olbers’ paradox asks ‘Why is the night sky dark?’
