How to find the center of the galaxy with your own eyes this July
On a dark night this month you can stand in a field, face south, and look almost exactly toward the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. No telescope. No binoculars, though they help. Just your eyes, a clear southern horizon, and enough patience to let them adjust. The direction sits low in the sky between two constellations that are up all July: Scorpius and Sagittarius. You won’t see the black hole itself (its light is buried behind thousands of light-years of dust), but you can point your face down the barrel toward it and see the thickest, brightest star clouds of the whole Milky Way piled up in that direction. From my usual dark spot in the Troodos mountains, that stretch of sky is the best thing summer offers. Here’s how to find it. ...