The center of our Milky Way galaxy is visible overnight on summer evenings, just off the tip of the Sagittarius Teapot’s spout in the southern sky.
- The Milky Way’s center is visible in the southern sky during summer evenings.
- Near the star Gamma Sgr are two globular clusters (NGC 6528 and NGC 6522) easily seen with binoculars or a telescope.
- A dark nebula near NGC 6528 blocks starlight, creating a V-shaped dark area.
The center of the Milky Way is on display during summer evenings, arcing slowly through the southern sky. The galactic center is located near the magnitude 4.5 star 3 Sagittarii, which sits just 4.7° northwest (to the upper right, late this evening if you’re facing south) of Gamma (γ) Sgr, the star at the tip of the Teapot asterism’s spout.
The galactic center is rife with stars, gas, and so very many deep-sky objects! There’s a lot to explore here, so take your time, scanning the area slowly with binoculars or a telescope. To get you started, within 0.5° of Gamma are two relatively bright globulars: NGC 6528 and NGC 6522. Both can be viewed together in binoculars or a telescope. NGC 6528 is closer to the star and fainter, shining at mid-9th magnitude. NGC 6522 is about a magnitude brighter and slightly farther from Gamma’s position. Located just east of NGC 6528 is a dark nebula of cold dust, which blocks out some of the copious starlight behind it, forming a V-shaped region with fewer background stars noticeable to the visual observer, as well as in astrophotos of the region.
Sunrise: 5:44 A.M.
Sunset: 8:27 P.M.
Moonrise: 11:19 P.M.
Moonset: 10:48 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (75%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 12 P.M. local time from the same location.
For a look ahead at more upcoming sky events, check out our full Sky This Week column.