Only a few stars can be found within [
http://www.astro.wi… nearest.html ] ten light-years of our lonely Sun, situated near [
http://fuse.pha.jhu… sightlines.html ] an outer spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy. But if the Sun [
http://starchild.gs… solar_system_level2/sun_facts.html ] were found within one of our galaxy's star clusters [
http://www.seds.org… ], thousands of stars might occupy a similar space. What would the night sky [
http://www.iac.es/g… ] look like in such a densely packed stellar neighborhood? When Roger Hopkins took this picture at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge [
http://www.fws.gov/… ] in the Finger Lakes region of western New York, USA, he was struck by this same notion. Appropriately, he had photographed a flock [
http://www.i-bird.c… ] of starlings against the backdrop of a serene sunset [
http://antwrp.gsfc.… ]. He then manipulated the image so that the black bird silhouettes were changed to white. The final picture [
http://www.naturalh… ] dramatically suggests the tantalizing spectacle of approaching night in crowded skies above [
http://www.att.virt… mainindex.html ] a cluster star world [
http://oposite.stsc… ].
explanation
Only a few stars can be found within [ http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/extra/ nearest.html ] ten light-years of our lonely Sun, situated near [ http://fuse.pha.jhu.edu/Graphics/animations/ sightlines.html ] an outer spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy. But if the Sun [ http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/ solar_system_level2/sun_facts.html ] were found within one of our galaxy's star clusters [ http://www.seds.org/messier/cluster.html ], thousands of stars might occupy a similar space. What would the night sky [ http://www.iac.es/gabinete/iacnoticias/winter98/xplaneta.htm ] look like in such a densely packed stellar neighborhood? When Roger Hopkins took this picture at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge [ http://www.fws.gov/R5MNWR/mnwr2.html ] in the Finger Lakes region of western New York, USA, he was struck by this same notion. Appropriately, he had photographed a flock [ http://www.i-bird.com/Location/NYMontezuma.htm ] of starlings against the backdrop of a serene sunset [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000507.html ]. He then manipulated the image so that the black bird silhouettes were changed to white. The final picture [ http://www.naturalhighs.net/Birds.htm ] dramatically suggests the tantalizing spectacle of approaching night in crowded skies above [ http://www.att.virtualclassroom.org/vc99/vc_04/ mainindex.html ] a cluster star world [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/2000/33/ ].
Explanation
false