Milky Way over Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

This image is a 30-second exposure of the Milky Way setting next to the Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. This was taken with a Canon 1D Mark IIN digital camera and a 15mm fisheye lens. Other features of the night sky visible in this image include the Large Magellanic Cloud, which can be seen to the left of the Milky Way just peaking over the horizon. The rectangular shaped dark spot near the middle of the Milky Way is called the Coal Sack. The four stars that make up the Southern Cross lie just to the right of the Coal Sack, and the two bright stars to the left and up from the Coal Sack and just below the next big dark cloud are Alpha and Beta Centauri.