NASA shares rare orbital view of Milky Way, internet is in awe

The Milky Way has always looked magical from Earth but from space, it looks almost unreal. A new image captured by NASA astronaut Chris Williams gives people a stunning look at our home galaxy from orbit and the internet cannot stop talking about it.The photograph was taken from a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the International Space Station (ISS). Unlike views from Earth, astronauts in orbit can photograph the Milky Way without interference from city lights, pollution or atmospheric haze. As a consequence, the result received was a brighter view of the galaxy that stretched across space., “The bright, central band of the Milky Way stretches vertically across the centre of this image, with stars surrounding it.” The agency further explained, “The dark Earth takes up most of the image's bottom half. The oval window that this image was taken through hazily frames the corners.”The image quickly grabbed attention online and crossed more than 90,000 likes with users flooding the comments section by sharing their reactions. “Absolutely wonderful and spectacular,” one user wrote.Another commented, “It's also quite amazing that we get to see this at some places on earth. It's truly a gift.”An individual thanked the astronaut directly, writing, “Thank you so much for taking this picture, Chris Williams. Thanks so much, NASA, for posting it. I have dreamed of being in space and seeing the Milky Way for so long.”The Milky Way is the galaxy Earth belongs to. It contains hundreds of billions of stars, along with huge amounts of gas, dust and dark matter. Scientists estimate that our solar system sits around 26,000 light-years away from the galaxy’s centre.NASA is also preparing for deeper studies of the Milky Way in the coming years. The upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, expected to launch no later than May 2027, will study the gas and dust between stars in far greater detail.