This image presents the center of Milky Way, our Galaxy as seen from the inside. This extremely wide field spans a whopping 100 degrees, or 200 full moons, from the constellations Aquila in the lower left, to Centaurus in the upper right, and crosses the Zenith from Southern latitudes in a breathtaking view.

The Milky Way has arisen Humanity's questioning since Ancient times. Under the beauty of the unspoiled night skies, our ancestors wondered:

"[...] the !Kung Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana have an explanation for the Milky Way, which at their latitude is often overhead. They call it ‘the backbone of night,’ as if the sky were some great beast inside which we live." [1] [...] "Thomas Wright marveled in 1750 that Democritus had believed the Milky Way to be composed mainly of unresolved stars: ‘long before astronomy reaped any benefit from the improved sciences of optics' [...] Beyond the Milk of Hera, past the Backbone of Night, the mind of Democritus soared." [2]

Carl Sagan puts it brilliantly in Cosmos. It was Galileo who first pointed the telescope and saw myriads of stars that made the bright clouds overhead. Today we know the white river in the sky is actually made of billions of unresolved stars! We know a lot about our galaxy, but there is much to be still discovered. In our quest of existence and understanding, we try to better understand the universe we are all part of.

Our galaxy morphology is likely a barred spiral disk, some 100,000 light years in diameter. However, from our vantage point, inside the disk, we see it surrounding the night sky. The brightest region in the center of the region is the view towards its center, where a supermassive black hole (most likely) sits. The disk is rich in dust and gas, which partly obscure the view, creating the beautiful dark markings and nebulae.

__________________________________

This is the Winter sky as seen from my newly initiated observatory, at my dark sky site. It was taken in July 2020, a special period for me: after 4 months away from the stars, I had 30 long waited nights there, enjoying the company of the stars in the first light of my proto-observatory. This is the breathtaking vista I had when looking up around midnight – a dream come true. To me, this deep connection to the night skies, that goes way back into the history of mankind, is a kernel of awe and inspiration. Unfortunately, many people today don’t see this vista, as light pollution spoil the view. Through images such as this one, I can share some of the Night skies' beauty to everyone, and hopefully inspire them to go and experience a dark sky someday.

Completing such a wide field image was in my checklist for a while. This image shows what relatively modest equipment can capture: an entry level APS-C camera and 10mm ultra-wide-field lens mounted on a simple tracking mount.

Constructive criticism, comments and suggestions are more than welcome in the comments section.

Date: 17 July 2020

Location: MG, Brazil. Rural Skies (Bortle 3, calculated SQM ~21.6)

Camera: Canon EOS T5/1200D (mod) at ISO 1600

Optics: Canon 10-18mm STM, operated at 10mm f/5.0

Mount: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer, tracking.

Exposure Detail: 35x240s, total 140min or 2.3h

[1] Carl Sagan, COSMOS, "The Backbone of Night", pp. 179; [2] Carl Sagan, COSMOS, "The Backbone of Night", pp. 189