Galactic Center? Milky Way? What is it?

It's September 2010 and I'm in the central part of the USA currently, and when I look up into the sky around 10 PM to Midnight I see a straight line that is milky in the night sky that is running across the sky from NE to SW even though to see it you have to look to the WSW. What is that straight milky looking straight line in the sky?

Also, right beside the milky straight line is a curved line that is also milky, and it's milky curve almost touches the milky straight line. What is this curved milky looking part in the night sky?

I've never noticed either of these two milky parts in the sky before, and they are huge to say the least. Is one of them the Galactic Center? Or, the Milky Way? What is the curved part that I see?

Thanks.

Is it there every night ? and can you take a picture ?
I have never seen the millkyway, I guess it is only visible on the southern hemisphere..

Explanation: Here is a couple reference pictures...







Personal Disclosure: OL rather likes this one ...

The Milky Way, from the bright star Sirius in the upper right corner all the way down to Eta Carina, the red nebula visible on the horizon, as seen from the Florida Keys.

reply to post by ChemBreather


Yes, it's there every night. I could take a picture of it, but I've never up loaded a picture or video from my digital cameras. The only time that I can't see it at night is when it's cloudy outside. It's very interesting to see especially the milky curve. The curve is about 1/5 of a complete circle and it's center point would be to the NW of the 1/5 of the curve that almost touches the straight milky line that runs from NE to SW; but as I stated before, all of it can only be seen in the sky to the WSW.

This is EXACTLY the kind of post that hurts my head!
I have no more words!

reply to post by OmegaLogos


Your reference pictures are interesting, and I've seen many like those on the Internet, but they look nothing like what I see in the sky at night to the SW of here. There is a straight milky looking line in the sky that runs NE to SW when looking to the WSW. The first time I saw them a week or more ago, I thought they were some close clouds that weren't moving, but since then I've realized that they are always there at that time of night.

The reason they don't look similar to the photos that you put on the Internet, is because of the huge milky curve that lies to the NW of the straight milky line. That huge curve makes it look completely different than all of the other pictures I've seen on the Internet.

reply to post by Divine Strake


I think its interesting stuff, and I'm trying to figure out exactly what it is that I'm seeing. I'll take some pictures of it one of these nights and hopefully be able to put them on the Internet with some help. I'll have to get my tripod out so that there is no shaking when I take the photos.

reply to post by RussianScientists


Sounds like a treat for the eyes, whish I cold see it..
Ilive up North , Norway that is, I only get to see few stars here and there..

reply to post by OmegaLogos


Great pictures !

Are those picture representing the view of the milkyway as seen with the eyes or a long shutter picture ?

It's 2 PM here in the central USA, and I went out to see if I could see this strange site in the sky. It wasn't in the sky, so I couldn't take any pictures of it.

Obviously someone else must see what I see in the night sky and be able to explain it. If not, I'll get some photos of it between 10 and Midnight, and put them on the Internet.

reply to post by ChemBreather


Its very interesting to see, and its very faint. If you live in Norway, then you definitely are too far north to see what I'm seeing, but I'll try to get a few photos of what I'm seeing one of these nights.

reply to post by ChemBreather

Explanation: OL just grabbed them of the web... going to go with long shutter length as I have never seen so much detail myself! OL has lots of light pollution to deal with living in suburbs but even when I was out in the nullabor desert it wasn't that stunning. [was amazingly heaps better than in town but still nowhere near that level of detail and I can usually make out 12 to 13 stars in Pleiadies constellation with my naked eyes during dark of moon, when for good vision one only needs to make 6 to 8 stars! ]

Personal Disclosure: @Everybody... Google Earth app with Star Map function engaged would surely help us all get on the right page!

your lookin at our own galactic disk [atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/f6eede6abb10.jpg[/atsimg] from the side, [atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/63c256160831.jpg[/atsimg] makes it a line, the milky clouds are clouds of gas,


there are many many many many suns like our own within our own disk alone, the bright sun at the center of our disk is far bigger then any thing else in our disk, though it is obscured by the clouds of gas from our perspective.

once you comprehend our perspective and what your looking at, it realy starts to seem much more beautiful to you

If that is our galactic disk then how was the pic taken from outside our galaxy? Are you sure that's not Andromeda?

reply to post by LilDudeissocool


To clarify I am speaking of the top pic only.