The Milky Way, Jupiter and the Throne of Zeus
February 18, 2009
Photographer: Tilemachos Athanasiadis
Summary Author: Tilemachos Athanasiadis, Jim Foster
The photo above shows a wonderful view of the Milky Way as seen from near Mt. Olympus, Greece. It was taken at an altitude of 2,760 m (9.055 ft) on July 5, 2008, at 02:10 (local time). The Milky Way is a classic spiral type galaxy. It was long considered a little sister to the Andromeda Galaxy (M31); however, recent research seems to indicate that it's now more comparable in size to M31. The bright "star" at upper left is Jupiter. Note that the boulder in the foreground is named the Throne of Zeus (Jupiter). As Jupiter is the king of planets, Zeus was the king of the Olympian gods in ancient Greece, where it was believe that the Milky Way was Hera's Milk.
Photo details: Piggyback-Canon EOS 400D; Vixen GP; skywatcher 80 ED (tracking); 1600 ASA; exposure of 300 seconds.