Telescopes and the Galaxy

The band of the Milky Way, our home galaxy, rises over large research telescopes on the top of La Palma, Canary islands. The three bright stars of the Summer Triangle in the constellation Cygnus, Lyra, and Aquila, appear on the left, while the bright bulge toward the galactic center is in the middle right marked by constellation Sagittarius and Scorpius. Southern stars of Centaurus are at the right end. The panorama has captured stunningly dark night sky above some of the world’s major telescopes in Roque de los Muchachos observatory, located at about 2400 meters above sea level. Click on the second photo to see an extensive day-time panorama of the observatory standing at the edge of a giant caldera.