A Southern Sky View
Credit & Copyright:
Gordon Garradd
On 1996 March 22, a Galaxy and a comet shared the southern sky.
They were captured together, from horizon to horizon, in the night sky above Loomberah, New South Wales,
Australia by astronomer
Gordon Garradd.
Garradd used a home made all-sky camera with a
fisheye lens, resulting in a circular 200 degree field of view.
This gorgeous sky view was dominated by the luminous band of our
Milky Way Galaxy cut by dramatic, dark
interstellar dust clouds.
Along with the bright stars of our Galaxy, the
Large Magellanic Cloud
is visible at the lower left.
That night sky was also graced by the long, lovely, bluish tail of
Comet Hyakutake,
which can be seen toward the top of the image,
near the bright star
Arcturus.
Bright city lights from nearby
Tamworth glow along the Northwestern horizon.