Monday, October 17, 2016

Different types of the Milky Way Night Landscape - Stair Sail and Arch

Let me introduce a new (and completely humorous!) classification of the Milky Way. No, I am not serious — there is only one Milky Way galaxy — but give me a chance! Just look at the collage below: three very different shapes of the galactic core captured in a single night.

I call them the Stair, the Sail, and the Arch Milky Way. All three photos were taken in the same location — Park Avenue, Arches National Park — during the same night. Only small changes in viewpoint and composition, yet the Milky Way looks completely different!

This is part of my light-hearted series Astronomical Jokes, where I play with perspective and imagination. People love to classify everything they see, and sometimes those classifications become fun in themselves.

As the astronomer Olin Eggen playfully said:
“Classification is a tool for understanding — and occasionally for amusement.”
And the statistician George Box famously reminded us:
“All models are wrong, but some are useful.”
My “Milky Way types” are definitely wrong — but they are useful for a smile.

Collage of humorous Milky Way classifications — Stair, Sail, and Arch — photographed at Park Avenue, Arches National Park.

Different types of the Milky Way Night Landscape Astrophotography - Stair Sail and Arch

This collage shows how dramatically the Milky Way’s appearance changes depending on camera angle, foreground, and the rising position of the galactic core. Even though the galaxy is constant, our perspective makes it look like different “types.”

I hope this light-hearted classification brings a smile — and perhaps inspires you to try your own creative Milky Way “types” on the next clear night!