June 5, 1996
Galaxies were colliding long before you were born, and they will keep colliding long after us all.
Sagittarius and the Central Milky Way
Birthday · June 5, 1996
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published June 5, 1996. Credit: Dave Palmer. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
What does the center of our Milky Way Galaxy look like? No one knows! It is not possible to see the Galactic center in light our eyes are sensitive to because the thick dust in the plane of our Galaxy obscures it. If one looks in the direction of our Galaxy's center - which is toward the constellation of Sagittarius - many beautiful wonders become apparent, though. The center of the Milky Way is behind the center of the photo. Large dust lanes and star clouds dominate the picture. As many as 30 Messier Objects are visible, including all types of nebula and star clusters. Two notable nebula include the Lagoon Nebula (M8), a small red patch just above center, and slightly above this is the red and blue Trifid Nebula (M20). The lines through picture were caused by airplanes, and the dark objects in the foreground are trees.
Image credit: Dave Palmer