Milky Way: Planet earth is located within the Milky Way galaxy, a fairly large galaxy (as galaxies go) at over 100,000 light years across.

From a very dark site, the structure shown in this photo is very apparent to the naked eye; unfortunately, there are few dark sites left near any populations. Our stay in Crater Leke, in mid-July of 2026, coincided with the new moon (when the sky is darkest). Crater Lake has a VERY dark sky, being so far from any development.

This being the summer in the US west coast, there are lots of wild fires. We were lucky on this night, as a breeze blew most of the smoke out in the afternoon. There still is evidence of the smoke in this image, with the blueish light from the Rim Village and the Park Headquarters (lights at the rim directly across the lake from where this photo was taken), forming a small light dome. I suspect that the ruddy colors in the lower parts of ths sky are a result of the smoke, also.

Part of Wizard Island is captured in the lower left of the image.

The mix of dark brown, light brown and very light areas within the Milky Way reflects the fact that earth is within the disc of the galaxy, so we are, essentailly, looking at the galaxy edge on. Click here to see a view from earth of a fairly similar galaxy to ours, showing the dust lanes as part of the galaxy disc.

Technical Information:

This is a single image, not tracking the motion of the sky.

Equipment: Canon R5 Mark II camera wearing a Sigma ART 14mm f/1.8 lens, atop a simple tripod; f/1.8, ISO1600 and 20 seconds.

Location: Near Moab, Utah, USA

Date: Data acquired 06:50 UT, July 19, 2025; image posted July 22, 2026

Copyright Mark de Regt, 2026