The Milky Way Over the French Alps

Explanation: Have you ever seen the band of our Milky Way Galaxy ? Chances are you have never seen it like this -- nor could you. In a clear sky from a dark location at the right time, a faint band of light is visible across the sky. This band is the disk of our spiral galaxy . Since we are inside this disk, the band appears to encircle the Earth. The above spectacular picture is a bit of a digital trick , though. A first shot was taken in July 2000 with the camera counter-rotating from the Earth so that the stars appear fixed. This allowed a long exposure from which a great amount of detail could emerge from the background star field . Later, after moonrise , a much shorter image was taken from the same location catching details of the French Alps near Mount Blanc , the highest mountain in Western Europe . Reflections in the water were later enhanced digitally.