Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Milky Way Over Abandoned Kilns

NASA ^ | July 25, 2011 | (see photo credit)

[SunkenCiv]

Explanation: What's that below the Milky Way? Historic kilns. Built in the 1870s in rural Nevada, USA to process local wood into charcoal, the kilns were soon abandon due to a town fire and flooding, but remain in good condition even today. The above panorama is a digital conglomerate of five separate images taken in early June from the same location. Visible above the unusual kilns is a colorful star field, highlighted by the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy appearing along a diagonal toward the lower right. Many famous sites in our Galaxy are visible, including the Pipe Nebula and the Dark River to Antares, seen to the right of the Milky Way. The origin of the green mist on the lower left, however, is currently unexplained.

[SunkenCiv]

[Credit: Tom McEwan]

[SunkenCiv]

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[cripplecreek]

I wish the naked eye could pick out the detail in the night sky like a camera can.

[frogjerk]

WOW!

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

pretty

[COBOL2Java]

Welcome to Obamaville!

Sorry, couldn't resist...

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On another note, I've visited these kilns. South of Ely, Nevada. Interesting place!

[mad_as_he$$]

Please stop it!!!

We tell outsiders that Nevada is Vegas, Reno and nothing but wasteland. We do not want them to venture into the outback. It is a very DANGEROUS PLACE!!

[Ann Archy]

WOW!! Those kilns are cool also!!

[Ann Archy]

That place looks fabulous!

[COBOL2Java]

Too late! I love rural Nevada! My wife and I did the “Loneliest Road in America” and got our certificate. :-)

[Young Werther]

Just love the Milky Way!

[left that other site]

That is really striking!

That picture is killin’ me! My eyes are glazing over. I hope I don’t slip.

[brytlea]

That’s beautiful.

[ken in texas]

I wish the naked eye could pick out the detail in the night sky like a camera can.

Agree, though we can still see a lot with the proper conditions. Some of my USAFA training was spent in the mountain forests at 8,000+ feet elevation. The night sky was amazing.

[Conan the Librarian]

When I was younger, I could see the sky like that. Not so much now.

If you go to VERY West Oklahoma, or, out in the middle the Sahara, where there is no humidity, you might still see things like this.

An alternate would be on top of a very high mountain like Mouna Kea in Hawaii. If you folks will pony up the money, I’ll go out there and let you know how it looks.

[cripplecreek]

The upper Peninsula of Michigan has some good viewing as well.

[Ro_Thunder]

I traveled that road from Fallon east for about 90 miles, hung out for the day, then traveled back to Fallon many many times.

Sand Mountain is (was?) pretty cool.

[Conan the Librarian]

You really need a dry landscape to see things this good.

I have a friend who goes to the Oki-Tex Star Party in Kenton, Ok. every year. It is so dry there that he could see the Earthshine rise above the horizon before the Moon rose. You can’t do that with any moisture in the air.

It’s so dark there that when it is cloudy, you can see nothing. The definition of Pitch Black.

[SunkenCiv]

That looks like it would be a great shooting location for either a stone age village or some kind of planetary colony.

[SunkenCiv]

That joke always produces Snickers.