Milky Way galaxy to illuminate summer Kentucky skies
KENTUCKY (FOX 56) — The 'Silver River' is set to brightly flow across the Kentucky night sky, with peak conditions in place on Monday, May 26.
According to Discover Magazine, the Milky Way Galaxy, aka the 'Backbone of Night,' according to the American Museum of Natural History, becomes more visible on Earth as summer approaches.
Earth's galaxy gets its name from a Greek myth that states that the goddess Hera sprayed milk across the sky while nursing Heracles, the son of Zeus. (too TMI?)
Two dead in Ashland house fire
Milky Way galaxy to illuminate summer Kentucky skies
Kentucky Lt. Gov. Coleman surveys Laurel County damage
Discover Magazine noted that the moon is currently in a waning period and will enter the New Moon phase on Monday. When the moon isn't shining bright on the ground below, spectacles like the Milky Way are more vivid in the night sky.
The rest of May isn't the only window to view the galactic river. Discover Magazine said the galaxy will show up clearly in the night sky into the fall, but only to those who can escape light pollution enough to clearly see the heavens.
Travel to high altitudes away from the surrounding light and face south for the best chances to view the Milky Way.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Epoch Times
9 hours ago
- Epoch Times
Milky Way's Chance of Colliding With Galaxy Billions of Years From Now? New Study Puts Odds at 50-50
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—It turns out that looming collision between our Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies might not happen after all. Astronomers reported Monday that the probability of the two spiral galaxies colliding is less than previously thought, with a 50-50 chance within the next 10 billion years. That's essentially a coin flip, but still better odds than previous estimates and farther out in time.
UPI
a day ago
- UPI
La Nina's role explained in Atlantic hurricane season
1 of 3 | Large parts of New Orleans were flooded weeks after several levees failed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in September 2005. That hurricane occurred around the onset of La Niña conditions. File Photo by Bob McMillan/FEMA Photo for UPI | License Photo Most people associate La Niña with warmer winters or drought in the southern United States, but its influence stretches far beyond the winter months. When La Niña sets in during hurricane season, it has the potential to dramatically increase both the number and strength of tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic basin. La Niña is part of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle and is defined by lower-than-average sea-surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator. Although the phenomenon originates far from the Atlantic Ocean, it disrupts global weather patterns in a way that suppresses wind shear across much of the tropical Atlantic. This matters because vertical wind shear -- the change in wind speed or direction with height - tends to prevent tropical systems from organizing. When shear is reduced, clusters of showers and thunderstorms are more likely to organize, strengthen and turn into tropical storms and hurricanes. "La Niña increases the number of hurricanes that develop and allows stronger hurricanes to form," said AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva. "It also raises the chances for the continental U.S. and the Caribbean Islands to experience a hurricane." During La Niña years, meteorologists often observe more named storms, more major hurricanes and higher accumulated cyclone energy (ACE), a measure of the strength and duration of storms over time. The odds of U.S. landfalls also increase, particularly for the Gulf Coast and Southeast. Two of the most active hurricane seasons in modern history occurred around the onset of La Niña conditions: 2005 and 2020. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, and the official storm naming list was exhausted for the first time, prompting the use of Greek letters. In 2020, the Atlantic basin experienced a record-breaking 11 storms that made direct landfall on U.S. soil, including Hurricane Laura. As for 2025, La Niña is not expected during the early part of the hurricane season. However, forecasters are watching for signs that it could emerge later in the year. "If we trend toward La Niña late in the hurricane season, we could see an active end to the season, similar to what we saw last year," DaSilva said. Complicating matters is the presence of unusually warm water in the Atlantic Ocean, which increases the risk of rapid intensification -- a dangerous trend in which storms gain strength quickly just before landfall. One of the biggest factors for tropical development in 2025 is the abundance of warm water available to fuel storms. "The water temperatures across most of the Atlantic are above average for this time of the year," DaSilva said. "They're not quite as warm as what we saw last year and in 2023, but they're still well, well above average." If La Niña arrives in the second half of the season and combines with this ocean heat, the Atlantic could be primed for a particularly volatile stretch during the peak hurricane months of September through November. La Niña doesn't guarantee an above-average season, but it dramatically shifts the odds in that direction. And for coastal communities, that makes understanding its influence more important than ever.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
La Niña's role in Atlantic hurricane season
Most people associate La Niña with warmer winters or drought in the southern United States, but its influence stretches far beyond the winter months. When La Niña sets in during hurricane season, it has the potential to dramatically increase both the number and strength of tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic basin. La Niña is part of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle and is defined by lower-than-average sea-surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator. Although the phenomenon originates far from the Atlantic Ocean, it disrupts global weather patterns in a way that suppresses wind shear across much of the tropical Atlantic. This matters because vertical wind shear - the change in wind speed or direction with height - tends to prevent tropical systems from organizing. When shear is reduced, clusters of showers and thunderstorms are more likely to organize, strengthen and turn into tropical storms and hurricanes. "La Niña increases the number of hurricanes that develop and allows stronger hurricanes to form," said AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva. "It also raises the chances for the continental U.S. and the Caribbean Islands to experience a hurricane." During La Niña years, meteorologists often observe more named storms, more major hurricanes and higher accumulated cyclone energy (ACE), a measure of the strength and duration of storms over time. The odds of U.S. landfalls also increase, particularly for the Gulf Coast and Southeast. Two of the most active hurricane seasons in modern history occurred around the onset of La Niña conditions: 2005 and 2020. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, and the official storm naming list was exhausted for the first time, prompting the use of Greek letters. In 2020, the Atlantic basin experienced a record-breaking 11 storms that made direct landfall on U.S. soil, including Hurricane Laura. As for 2025, La Niña is not expected during the early part of the hurricane season. However, forecasters are watching for signs that it could emerge later in the year. "If we trend toward La Niña late in the hurricane season, we could see an active end to the season, similar to what we saw last year," DaSilva said. Complicating matters is the presence of unusually warm water in the Atlantic Ocean, which increases the risk of rapid intensification - a dangerous trend where storms gain strength quickly just before landfall. One of the biggest factors for tropical development in 2025 is the abundance of warm water available to fuel storms. "The water temperatures across most of the Atlantic are above average for this time of the year," DaSilva said. "They're not quite as warm as what we saw last year and in 2023, but they're still well, well above average." If La Niña arrives in the second half of the season and combines with this ocean heat, the Atlantic could be primed for a particularly volatile stretch during the peak hurricane months of September through November. La Niña doesn't guarantee an above-average season, but it dramatically shifts the odds in that direction. And for coastal communities, that makes understanding its influence more important than ever.
