The Earthling looks up at the sky, and if the weather is clear, he sees swarms of stars…
The gaze towards the blue above us has been from antiquity to the present day.
The earthling draws constellations, names them, and divines by them. They help him predict the weather and foresee drought or flood.
What is the Milky Way?
But there is a white road, which we have named the Milky. This is our galaxy, in which our Solar System and we... on planet Earth are located.
For the terrestrial observer, the stars from this plane merge into a bright milky band in the sky, hence the name.
• The Milky Way a galaxy with dimensions of 100,000 – 120,000 light-years in diameter, containing about 100 – 400 billion stars;
• The solar system is located about 27,000 light-years from the center of the galaxy, on the inner edge of a spiral formation of concentrated gas and dust called an arm. Orion;
• At the very center lies an intense radio source called „Sagittarius A*“, which most likely represents a supermassive black hole;
The oldest known star in the galaxy is at least 13.2 billion years old;
Surrounded by several smaller satellite galaxies, the Milky Way is part of a galaxy cluster called the Local Group, which in turn is part of a supercluster of galaxies. „Virgin“.
In a word, above us is infinity... Or the end. Discussions on this matter continue...
Legends of the Milky Way
Every people has its own legend about the Milky Way. Remember the ancient Greeks and the story of Zeus immortalizing his son Heracles.
In Bulgarian folklore, he is called Kumova slama or simply Slama, with the legend being related to the theft of straw by the kum (godfather), considered a great sin by the people and therefore forever imprinted on the sky.
Legend has it that one winter, when a lot of snow had fallen, a poor man was left with nothing and decided to steal straw from his kum (godfather/best man) so his oxen wouldn't starve. However, the basket he was putting the straw in turned out to have a hole and left a trail by which he was discovered.
In some versions of the legend, an angel descends from heaven and asks him why he didn't just ask his godfather for the straw instead of deciding to steal it, after which he says:
„May this stolen straw catch fire and never go out.“
This way everyone will remember what happened and know that you don't steal from your best man.
Viktor Demidov: „Catching the Stars“
The photographer and friend of Tea Viktor Demidov shared some of his most beautiful encounters with the Milky Way.
Why is he an inspiration?!
The Magic of Astrophotography
„There's something unique about shooting the Milky Way, the feeling of „capturing“ the stars…
Going high into the mountains, catching the right weather, lugging a tripod, lenses, and camera just to take one photo… that’s the thrill of astrophotography for me.
The Milky Way is best photographed in the days around the new moon, which occurs once a month.
You need a highly light-sensitive lens and to be far from cities (preferably high in the mountains) to escape the light.“
Sometimes, all it takes is to look up at the sky to remember how vast the world is and how small, yet happy, travelers we are in it.
Enjoy the star moments
A pleasure to see his work and „caught“ moments.
See more about Author Viktor Demidov here
