When I saw this feature today on Yahoo!
http://video.yahoo.com/editorspicks-12135647/featured-24306389/the-mountain-24960678.html#crsl=%252Feditorspicks-12135647%252Ffeatured-24306389%252Fmilky-way-video-wows-web-24960678.html
I thought of this thread.
Just for what that may be worth to those who were here last year.
Interestingly, the term ‘galaxy’ (γαλάξια κύκλος) basically means ‘milky way’ (more like milky circle, strictly speaking). The same root ‘lac’ is found in Latin, where the term is Via Lactea, which also means ‘milky way’.
This site, The World at Night, has incredible pictures and videos from around the planet.
“Sorry, but this video is no longer available.”
Try this link.
Same show I saw yesterday and the day before. Sorry about the dead link.
That one works, thanks.
(There’s a lot of scenes with trees, flowers, clouds, and what-not. Almost half of it. Still, nature is beautiful.)
Make that institutional telescopes. Circa WW1, It took a rare photograph on a night of exceptional seeing and a fresh silver surface before the 100 inch aperture Mt. Wilson reflector showed that the Andromeda nebula was a galaxy and contained stars. Prior to that time the existence of galaxies was a widely disputed hypothosis. Granted the state of the art is well advanced since that time, but AFAIK there is still no telescope that will let one resolve extra galactic stars optically. (the telescope delivering light to the observer’s eye, quite passe for professional astronomers today) It is now routinely done photographically of course. (by which I include digital imaging).
ETA: While my comment was addressed to Chronos, I don’t presume to educate him…it was really meant for the lurking masses.