Chilean Skyscape

Night skies over Chilean mountain top observatories can be dark and clear, with glorious cosmic vistas . In this recent example, the plane of our Milky Way galaxy stretches parallel to the horizon , the galactic center's star clusters, dark dust clouds, and glowing nebulae hovering in the west. Recorded after sunset, the wedge of light extending upward through the scene is Zodiacal light , sunlight scattered by dust along the solar system's ecliptic plane . A faint meteor was also caught in the view, but approaching a conjunction, brilliant Venus and bright Jupiter dominate the skyscape. A close pairing through this weekend, by Monday, December 1 , they will be joined by the young crescent Moon . Look west after sunset and the tight celestial triangle formed by Moon, Venus, and Jupiter, the three brightest beacons in the night, will be a spectacular sight , even from bright-sky urban locations all over the world.