From The Northern To The Southern Cross

This is a panoramic photograph of the central band of our galaxy – The Milky Way. This photo was taken in the northern part of Chile, which is a country in South America. I was quite intrigued by this photo. Initially, I was attracted by its colors, however once I found out what it was, I wondered why it appeared in the shape of an arc from the perspective of the photographer. I do not see how it could appear in that shape if it was taken from Earth or if it was connecting two constellations (the Northern Cross, aka: Cygnus and the Southern Cross, aka: Crux). Is that the shape of the band? Is that the shape of our galaxy? Maybe it is neither. Maybe it is just how it appears from Earth. When will we be able to see this again? Does this appear the same time every year or every few years? Is this viewable in multiple places on the globe or do I have to travel 5500 miles to see this with my own eyes? This picture is also quite amazing because it doesn’t only have the central band of our galaxy. Many other things are shown as well. For example, we can also see planets and other constellations.

This is where you can find the above picture:

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140127.html