Our dazzling Milky Way galaxy shines over an old windmill in this stunning panoramic image recently sent in to SPACE.com by an amateur astronomer.
Astrophotographer Sean Parker captured this splendid 14-shot panoramic view of the Milky Way arching over Paulden, Ariz. Parker sent the image, he titled "Ice," to SPACE.com on Dec. 30.
The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy stretching between 100,000 to 120,000 light-years in diameter. It comprises gas, dust and roughly 400 billion stars. The portion of the galaxy we see is the center of the galaxy, as seen from one of its outer arms. A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, or about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion kilometers).
To see more amazing night sky photos submitted by SPACE.com readers, visit our astrophotography archive.
Editor's note: If you have an amazing night sky photo you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.
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