The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy, made up of multitudes of stars and clouds of dusty gas. This optical telescope image shows the view towards the center as seen from Earth, which is located in one of the galaxy's outer spiral arms. The center bulge is seen in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius; it appears to be divided into two bands by a line of opaque dust blocking out the light from the stars behind. This photograph of the Milky Way, as seen from the southern hemisphere, was made using a conventional camera.