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both photos on this page show a Southern Hemisphere view. We're inside the galaxy. It surrounds us in space. So everyone on Earth can see it.
• In fact, people on the southern half of Earth's globe have an even more magnificent view of the Milky Way than we do in the Northern Hemisphere. From the northern part of Earth, the center of the galaxy - the richest part, where most of the galaxy's stars reside - lies toward our southern sky on August evenings. The galactic center is fairly close to our southern horizon. If you were in the Southern Hemisphere, though, you'd see the star-packed core of the Milky Way closer to overhead. You'd see more of it, and you'd see it without any interfering haze or clouds on the horizon.
• Bottom line: With new moon coming on August 17, 2012, these next few evenings are a wonderful time to go out in the country for an edgewise view into our own galaxy, the Milky Way. In a dark sky, the Milky Way looks like a hazy pathway across the sky. Binoculars reveal the haze as countless stars!
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When you look edgewise into the disk of our own Milky Way galaxy, you see it as a hazy band of stars across a dark night sky. Dark clouds of gas and dust can be seen blotting some of the light of these stars. These dark clouds are places where new stars are being born. This image of the Milky Way is from EarthSky Facebook friend Erin Cole in Australia. Thanks, Erin!