Night sky photographer Bill Schlein captured the northern constellation Aquila (The Eagle) along a dusty Milky Way in this beautiful image recently submitted to SPACE.com.
The photo shows our dazzling host galaxy, as well as the dark-looking "Barnard's E" nebula (also known as Barnard 142 and 143), which can be seen near the top right of the image.
Best seen during the summer months along the Milky Way, Aquila resides a few degrees north of the celestial equator. The brightest star in the constellation is Altair, which is visible at the top of the photo. Along with the stars Deneb and Vega, Altair forms one of the points of the asterism known as the "Summer Triangle."
Schlein took the image on Aug. 10 from Ionia, N.Y., using a Canon XSi camera, seven subs at four minutes each, ISO 400 and 35mm lens at f/3.5.
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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