Star Clouds over Arizona

The clouds in the foreground are much different than the clouds in the background. In the foreground are a photogenic deck of Earth-based water clouds . The long exposure used to create the above photograph makes the light from the left, reflected from Phoenix , Arizona , USA , appear like a sunset . Far in the distance, however, are star clouds from the disk of our Milky Way Galaxy . Billions of stars like our Sun live there, circling our Galactic center every 200 million years. Contrast between the water clouds and the star clouds has been digitally enhanced . Between the two, visible on the upper right, is the planet Jupiter .