Since the Milky Way Star Festival began, we have not been blessed with clear sky at night, so I post this image I took last month.
This image contains the Summer Triangle. Vega is in the center above, Altair is near the right edge of the image, and Deneb is in the lower left center.
The Milky Way is faint, but you can see it flowing from the lower left to the upper right.
This image was taken with my smartphone (Sony SO-01M) I purchased five years ago. ISO-1600, 15 seconds exposure.
At Bisei Astronomical Observatory, visitors can enjoy the Milky Way through a large binocular (25x150). The area slightly below the center of the image, where there are relatively more stars within the Milky Way around the Summer Triangle, is a spot I often show visitors. Visitors are always very happy to see the impressive view of stars filling the field of view.
In Japan, modern Tanabata is celebrated on July 7.
We had hundreds of visitors on July 7 in our observatory.
But traditionally, Tanabata was celebrated on 7th day of 7th month of lunisolar calendar. The traditional Tanabata will be on August 29, this year.
The Astronomical Society of Japan promotes a campaign for lectures during the period around July 7 (modern Tanabata) and the traditional Tanabata all over Japan.
#milkywaystarfestival