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Birthday · April 21, 2020

Eye on the Milky Way

April 21, 2020

Every candle on your cake is a tiny imitation of the stars that made you possible.

Eye on the Milky Way

A little universe, just for you

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APOD published April 21, 2020. Credit: Miguel Claro. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.

Behind the image

Eye on the Milky Way

Original APOD · April 21, 2020

Have you ever had stars in your eyes? It appears that the eye on the left does, and moreover it appears to be gazing at even more stars. The featured 27-frame mosaic was taken last July from Ojas de Salar in the Atacama Desert of Chile. The eye is actually a small lagoon captured reflecting the dark night sky as the Milky Way Galaxy arched overhead. The seemingly smooth band of the Milky Way is really composed of billions of stars, but decorated with filaments of light-absorbing dust and red-glowing nebulas. Additionally, both Jupiter (slightly left the galactic arch) and Saturn (slightly to the right) are visible. The lights of small towns dot the unusual vertical horizon. The rocky terrain around the lagoon appears to some more like the surface of Mars than our Earth.

Image credit: Miguel Claro

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