Above: This visible light wide-field view shows the rich star clouds in the constellation of Sagittarius (the Archer) in the direction of the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The entire image is filled with vast numbers of stars — but far more remain hidden behind clouds of dust and are only revealed in infrared images. This view was created from photographs in red and blue light and forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. The field of view is approximately 3.5 degrees x 3.6 degrees. ESO and Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin and S. Guisard
The most recent issue of Free Astronomy Magazine (May-June 2020) is available for your reading and downloading pleasure at www.astropublishing.com (click the link to go directly to the issue).
It is my hope that you had opportunity to read the perspectives from several amateur astronomers (myself included) and their organizations in the March-April issue (site announcement). May-June returns to the selected survey of astronomical content of local and cosmological interest from NASA/ESA, ESO, ALMA, as well as our fearless leader/editor Michele Ferrara. His isolation in Italy and my isolation in New York have provided us with a most unexpected exchange of updates during this ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It is fortunate for us both that our shared avocations of writing and astronomy are as compatible with social distancing as they are. For myself, I've been fortunate that we've also had some excellent clear (albeit cold) nighttime skies recently.
For those wanting a quick look at what the issue has to offer, the Table of Contents is reproduced below.
The web browser-readable version: www.astropublishing.com/3FAM2020/
Jump right to the PDF download (18 MB): May-June 2020