We were talking this week about how empty the spring sky looks... Sorry, Arcturus! No offense, but, hey, look around. It IS pretty empty. You may also notice that the most crowded part of our sky - the Milky Way - is laid out along the horizon. In fact, it goes around the ENTIRE horizon. This means, that at this time of year, we're looking out the top of our galaxy!
Out here (beyond the 494/694 loop of the Milky Way) the disk of our galactic home is only 1,000 light years thick! Currently, our solar system is about 100 light years above the galactic plane, which means that it's only 400 light years to intergalactic space! From here to the Pleiades - that's all it takes - and you are in the vasty nothingness of the intergalactic void.
Setting Stellarium to 1 AM tomorrow (see attached), you will note that the North Galactic Pole is just about 18 degrees from the zenith. (If you want to go, now's your shot!!)
In this picture, the green grid is our local alt/az, with the zenith in Coma Berenices. The galactic grid is orange, with the North Galactic Pole in Canes Venatici. In fact, if you were in Fort Meyers, FL, at 00:30, tonight, the two would line up perfectly!
- stellarium-000.png (223.76 KiB) Viewed 447 times
Looking outside, again, it really is black up ther... Oh, wait. Yeah... The clouds. <sigh>
That's enough for me. Good night, all!