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If you have a chance to escape city lights when there is no Moon in
the sky (latter part of the month), this is a wonderful time of the
year to look at the Milky Way, the city of stars in which we dwell,
seen from within. The stretch from the Southern Cross to Sagittarius
is the most spectacular portion. Clusters of stars, glowing 'nebulae'
and even dark dust clouds abound against the luminous background of
unresolved countless stars. Binoculars will reveal much more detail
than can be discerned by the naked eye.
In general our gaze penetrates some 5000 'light years' in the plane of
the galaxy, and (because of the light travel time) you see back to
3000 BC! However, beyond the foreground stars of Sagittarius, a
portion of the central bulge of our Galaxy may be glimpsed, coming
from 25000 BC.
By contrast, light takes only 35 minutes from the bright planet
Jupiter, the brightest object after the Moon, and now high overhead.
The Moon is in the evening sky until July 13 and from July 27.
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