All Sky from Both Hemispheres

The two all-sky views compared how the sky looks in a winter night of Turkey in northern hemisphere (2009 February 21, left) and in a similar winter night of New Zealand in the southern hemisphere (2010 July 3, right). Move the slider on the image to see all the labels and constellation lines. At left the Milky Way and the zodiacal light are captured from Sinekci Pass in Toros Mountains of southern Turkey, on the way to Kas by the Mediterranean coast. The right side image is made from Tongariro National Park, the oldest protected area in New Zealand and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At a dark site over Lake Rotoaira just south of greater Lake Taupo on New Zealand’s North Island, the Milky Way bridges across the southern sky in its all beauty. Our galactic neighbors the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds stands above the southern horizon. Bright stars of Alpha and Beta Centauri are at the lower right, near the Southern Cross.