Story: Night sky

On clear dark nights, the Milky Way is a conspicuous feature of southern skies. In this view, numerous distant stars show up as a band of cloudy light stretching across the horizon. Interspersed are bright stars, including the Pointers (Alpha and Beta Centauri), in the centre of the photo, and the Southern Cross constellation to the right. Dark dust clouds or nebulae show up as regions devoid of stars. The Coal Sack nebula is the dark shape to the lower left of the Southern Cross.