Milky Way and Aurora over Antarctica

It has been one of the better skies of this long night. In parts of Antarctica , not only is it winter, but the Sun can spend weeks below the horizon. At China's Zhongshan Station , people sometimes venture out into the cold to photograph a spectacular night sky. The featured image from one such outing was taken in mid-July, just before the end of this polar night . Pointing up, the wide angle lens captured not only the ground at the bottom, but at the top as well. In the foreground is a colleague also taking pictures. In the distance, a spherical satellite receiver and several windmills are visible. Numerous stars dot the night sky, including Sirius and Canopus . Far in the background, stretching overhead from horizon to horizon, is the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy . Even further in the distance, visible as extended smudges near the top, are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds , satellite galaxies near our huge Milky Way Galaxy . Follow APOD on: Facebook , Google Plus , or Twitter