Milky Way and Meteor:25H

Our home in the universe, the milky way galaxy. This image captures the centre of our galaxy in the constellation of Sagittarius taken in the Western Australian desert in April 2014 - the meteor is a bonus! Because of the position of our solar system relative to the milky way we are closest to its centre in July as we make our annual journey around the sun. This part of our galaxy is only visible at the northern latitudes habited by the UK during the months of May through September when we have few hours of true darkness to appreciate it - hence it is better viewed from the southern hemisphere where July is the middle of the winter.

This image is available back lit in a light box as part of our Celestial Luminaire range.