The Ñandú in the Milky Way
Image Credit & Copyright:
Fefo Bouvier;
Line Drawing: Alfonso Rosso
Have you seen the bird in the Milky Way?
Beyond the
man in the Moon, the night sky is filled with stories,
and cultures throughout history have projected some of their most
enduring legends onto the stars and dust above.
Generations of people see these celestial icons,
hear their associated stories, and pass them down.
Pictured here is not only a segment of the
central band of our
Milky Way galaxy, but, according to
folklore of several native peoples of
Uruguay,
the outline of a great bird called
Ñandú.
Furthermore, Ñandú's footprint is associated with the
Southern
Cross asterism.
In the foreground, in
silhouette, is a statue of
María Micaela Guyunusa, an indigenous woman of the
Charrúa
people who lived in the 1800s and endures as a symbol of colonial resistance.
The composite image was taken in mid-April in
Cabo Polonio,
Uruguay, with the
Atlantic Ocean in the background.