Milky Way Looms Large Over Washington in Amazing Photo

MIlky Way Over Washington
Astrophotographer Matt Zietzke took this image from Rattlesnake Lake near North Bend, Washington on May 19, 2014. (Image credit: Matt Zietzke)

The glowing Milky Way shines over Rattlesnake Lake in Washington State in this stunning image. Astrophotographer Matt Zietzke took the photo from Rattlesnake Lake near North Bend, Washington on May 19, 2014.

"This panorama was my first attempt at making a night sky panoramic photo, so the first purpose was to see what I could get out of such a shot, and to figure out what the difficulties are in taking such an image," Zietzke told Space.com via email. "I didn’t actually expect for such a cool shot to emerge from the original."

The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy spanning between 100,000 to 120,000 light-years in diameter. Roughly 400 billion stars populate the galaxy. The dazzling band we see from Earth is the center portion of the galaxy where a gigantic black hole billions of times the size of the sun resides. A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, or about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion kilometers). [Stunning Photos of Our Milky Way Galaxy (Gallery )]

While this is Zietzke’s first attempt at taking a night sky panorama, he writes he began experimenting with astrophotography at a young age and continued to pursue the art.

#1 rated Beginner Telescope. Celestron NexStar 130SLT Computerized Telescope. Buy Here (Image credit: Space.com Store)

“In a sense, I’m flying by the seat of my pants, experimenting in two subjects I thoroughly enjoy, and I get to share the beauty of the night sky to boot," he added. "It's amazing to me that the only credit I can really take is for the technical knowledge of how to capture the beauty of what’s already out there."

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.

Follow Space.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+. Original article on Space.com.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Contributing Writer and Producer

Nina Sen is a freelance writer and producer who covered night sky photography and astronomy for Space.com. She began writing and producing content for Space.com in 2011 with a focus on story and image production, as well as amazing space photos captured by NASA telescopes and other missions. Her work also includes coverage of amazing images by astrophotographers that showcase the night sky's beauty.