Southerndown Beach Milky Way

After a day where I didn't go out, it was approaching 10pm, and in the middle of my beer, when my mate messaged me about going out to photograph the Milky Way and suggested it would be at it's best about 4am.

We arranged that he'd pick me up at 2.30am and off we set. Both our wives thinking we were mad! I quite enjoy Darren's company - we've a lot in common. He's a serving Police Officer on traffic and runs a successful wedding, baby and equine photography business and he's now branching into teaching. Shooting astro photo's is his, and my way of relaxing!

On the way we saw a bright red half moon lighting the sea over Ogmore beach and grabbed a few there first, before heading to Southerndown beach where the main blip photo is taken from the beach. We also took some from the cliff top. I can tell you it was chilly and brought on a spate of coughing and spluttering from my nasty man-flu' virus.

No sooner had we got home than I had a call out so haven't been back to sleep, as after I had my car booked in for a MOT at 12.15pm - which it failed. Grrrrr! 

In the photo you should be able to make out the arc of the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way galaxy contains our Solar System. has a diameter usually considered to be about 100,000–180,000 light-years  It is estimated to contain 100–400 billion stars BUT this number may be as high as one trillion. There are likely at least 100 billion planets in the Milky Way. The Solar System is located within the disk, about 27,000 light-years from the Galactic Centre, on the inner edge of one of the spiral-shaped concentrations of gas and dust called the Orion Arm. The stars in the inner ≈10,000 light-years form  a bulge and one or more bars that radiate from the bulge. The very center is marked by an intense radio source, named Sagittarius A* , which is likely to be a supermassive black hole.

All this from a beach near Bridgend!