Quick facts
What it is: The Southern Hemisphere view of the Milky Way galaxy
Where it is: All around us
When it was shared: Oct. 29, 2025
We cannot see or image the entire Milky Way galaxy, because we are located inside it. From Earth, we can observe only a portion of the galaxy, and when we look up at the dark, clear night sky from a place free of light pollution, the Milky Way appears as a complex, busy band of stars and dust. This is our edge-on view of the dense galactic plane of our galaxy. And that's just the visible light view.
