 EPOD - a service of USRA

The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes
and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and
archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.


 Into the Past: Milky Way Mosaic

   December 10, 2020

    MirrorSmaller

    SouthernANNO-1536x1319

   Image Creators:  Tomas Slovinsky; Petr Horalek
   Summary Authors:  Tomas Slovinsky; Petr Horalek

   This mosaic of the  Milky Way isn’t what you might think at the
   first look. It’s actually a  photographic mirror to the past. One of
   the factors that determine how the view of the night sky changes over
   the eons is the  Earth’s axial precession, the gradual shift in the
   orientation of Earth’s axis of rotation that occurs in a cycle of
   approximately 25,772 years. What we're demonstrating here is how the
   visibility of particular parts of the sky change as the position of the
    celestial pole shifts.
   The top portion of this nighttime sky-view was taken in May 2020, from
   Runina, Slovak Republic (49 degrees north latitude); whereas the bottom
   portion was taken in April 2019, from the Maldives island of Soneva
   Fushi (5 degrees north latitude). This bottom portion then shows what
   could have been seen at night almost  8,000 years ago from
   present-day Slovakia, when the position of the  North Celestial Pole
   was considerably different. Back in the past, even the  Southern
   Cross or Crux (see annotated image) was easily visible from the
   mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere.
     * Coordinates
          + Runina, Slovak Republic:  49.0720, 22.4013
          + Soneva Fushi, Republic of Maldives:  5.1118, 73.0787

Related EPODs

    Into the Past: Milky Way Mosaic  Orion the Hunter and Mount
   Dirfis, Greece  Occultation of Venus by the Moon  Seeing the Sky
   in Correct Proportions  The Noose of Mars in 2018  STEVE Observed
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    More...

Night Sky Links

     *  Space Weather Live
     *  Space Weather Live Forum
     *  About the Moon
     *  American Meteor Society
     *  Arbeitskreises Meteore e.V.
     *  Global City Lights
     *  Heavens Above Home Page
     *  The International Meteor Organization
     *  Lunar and Planetary Institute
     *  MoonConnection
     *  NASA Eclipse Web Page
     *  Understanding The Moon Phases

-
   Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the  Universities
   Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu
 
