Milky Way

View of the Milky Way from above. When viewed from above the Milky Way looks like a spiral galaxy. Click on image for full size (276K JPEG) Mayans seem to have thought of the Milky Way as the mystic road along which souls walk into the Underworld. Crossing the Milky Way at the constellation Scorpio is the ecliptic, the apparent path of the sun, moon, and planets as they move against the background of stars. Mayans tracked their creation stories in relation to the movement of the stars across the heavens. They believed that the point at which the Milky way appeared as a vertical band in the night sky represented the moment of creation.

Learn more about the Milky Way Galaxy, our home.

Last modified March 25, 1997 by the Windows Team

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