After dark from a location away from city lights, a cloud-like band can be seen to reach clear across the sky from the northeast to the southwest. This is actually a portion of the Milky Way—our own galaxy—seen edge-on from our position about two-thirds out from the center. The brightest portion of the Milky Way is in the direction of our galaxy's center, which is near the end of the "Milky Way" label in the illustration above.
(Shown about two hours after sunset on October 16th—the night of New Moon—for mid-Northern latitudes.)
If you wish to view illustrations for other episodes, please see our Star Gazer Illustrated directory.
