Wilderness Portraits by Lloyd Paul Aiello

Galactic Center over Carrabassett River

The Galactic Center of the Milky Way sets over the Carrabassett River of northern Maine in late August. The Galactic Center is the rotational center of the Milky Way and where it appears brightest. It is 26,490 light years away from Earth in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. The Milky Way is the second-largest galaxy in our Local Group, with its stellar disk approximately 100,000 light years in diameter and, on average, approximately 1,000 light years thick. The Milky Way is approximately 1.5 trillion times the mass of the Sun. To compare the relative physical scale of the Milky Way, if our Solar System out to Neptune were the size of a US quarter (24.3 mm; 0.955 in), the Milky Way would be approximately the size of the entire contiguous United States. The Milky Way It is estimated to contain 100–400 billion stars and more than 100 billion planets.

This image is a focus stack of 3 photographs where the foreground was briefly illuminated with a headlamp during each 20 second exposure.

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Image Size: 5280x7920 / 203.9MB; www.WildernessPortraits.com; Carabasset River Carrabassett River Kingfield Maine astronomical atmospheric black color descriptors flowers format grass green grey landscape master milky way night peaceful places plants remote river rocks season silhouette solitude stars state-city-location stone summer things trees type vertical view water white yellow
Contained in galleries: Nature at Night, Recent Additions, Landscapes

The Galactic Center of the Milky Way sets over the Carrabassett River of northern Maine in late August. The Galactic Center is the rotational center of the Milky Way and where it appears brightest. It is 26,490 light years away from Earth in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. The Milky Way is the second-largest galaxy in our Local Group, with its stellar disk approximately 100,000 light years in diameter and, on average, approximately 1,000 light years thick. The Milky Way is approximately 1.5 trillion times the mass of the Sun. To compare the relative physical scale of the Milky Way, if our Solar System out to Neptune were the size of a US quarter (24.3 mm; 0.955 in), the Milky Way would be approximately the size of the entire contiguous United States. The Milky Way It is estimated to contain 100–400 billion stars and more than 100 billion planets.<br />
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This image is a focus stack of 3 photographs where the foreground was briefly illuminated with a headlamp during each 20 second exposure.