This stunning image of the Milky Way was taken over Mt. Manaslu in the Himalayas by an amateur astrophotographer with a passion for climbing.
Computer scientist and part-time mountaineer Kuntal A. Joisher, of Mumbai, India, took this image in fall of 2014 during a trek on the mountain.
"And just as dusk turned into night, the Milky Way was right there shining on top of Mt. Manaslu. It was as if a volcano had erupted on top of Mt. Manaslu. One of the most surreal moments I've experienced during my climbs of big mountains!" Joisher wrote in an email to Space.com. [Stunning Photos of Our Milky Way Galaxy]
The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy about 100,000 light-years across. Spiral galaxies make up about two-third of the galaxies in the universe. The spiral arms contain a high amount of dust and gas and constantly form new stars. These arms are contained in what is called the disk of the galaxy. It is only about 1,000 light-years thick.
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