The Gomeroi people between New South Wales and Queensland called the Milky Way Dhinawan, the giant Emu in the Sky that it stretches across the night sky.
The best time of year to see the Milky Way in Australia is from late February to late October. However, you can also shoot the galaxy during the Australian Milky Way season from late January to late November.
In the Southern Hemisphere the Milky Way is seen mostly in the southern half of the night sky. Keep an eye out for the light grey cloudy structure criss-crossed with dark shadows that make up the arms of the Galaxy.
The Milky Way Core is only visible in the Southeast, South, and Southwest, (in the Northern Hemisphere) depending on the season.
In early evenings in June, the Milky Way has risen from the south east and stretches right across the sky to the west. By July, August and September, the core or heart of the Milky Way is high in the southern sky. By October and November, the Milky Way begins to set in the western sky.
The Milky Way galaxy sparkles brightly in all its celestial wonder when you're stargazing in the iconic Warrumbungle National Park, Australia's first Dark Sky Park near Coonabarabran. Here, the stars are your destination - the pristine night sky above the volcanic landscape is unimpeded by artificial light.
As part of the constellation Canis Major the Greater Dog, Sirius also earns the nickname of the Dog Star. From the Northern Hemisphere, Sirius arcs across in the southern sky. From the Southern Hemisphere, it swings high overhead.
You cannot see the North Star from the Southern Hemisphere
The North Star, the one that marks the position of the North Celestial Pole, is only visible to the Northern Hemisphere observers.
The Northern Hemisphere is always pointing in a different direction than the Southern Hemisphere. This means that stargazers in Australia, for example, get a slightly different view of the sky and can see a few different constellations than those in the United States.
Warrumbungle National Park, near Coonabarabran in central western NSW, is Australia's first Dark Sky Park and the first in the southern hemisphere.
Coonabarabran is known as the astronomy capital of Australia: the launching pad for Siding Spring, Australia's premier optical and infrared observatory, Milroy Observatory and the Warrumbungle National Park.
From Earth, it can be seen as a hazy form of stars in the night sky that the naked eye can barely notice. You can see the Milky Way all year, no matter where you are in the world. It's visible as long as the sky is clear and there's minimal light pollution.
Meriam Mir people of the eastern Torres Strait have names for these lunar phases: The Moon is called meb (which is also the term for a month). The New Moon (thin crescent) is aketi meb. The First Quarter Moon is meb degemli. A nearly Full Moon (waxing or waning) is eip meb.
The Milky Way gets its name from a Greek myth about the goddess Hera who sprayed milk across the sky. In other parts of the world, our galaxy goes by other names. In China it's called the “Silver River,” and in the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa, it's called the “Backbone of Night.”
The diverse cultures of Indigenous Australia hold many stories about the stars. In the Torres Strait, the Southern Cross is seen as the left hand of Tagai. In south-eastern Australia, people like the Boorong of Lake Tyrell saw the constellation as Bunya, the possum, being pursued by the Emu.
But most Australians can't see it, their view of the sky is blinded by light pollution,” says astronomer Professor Lisa Kewley, director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) who are supporting the project. “Light pollution doesn't just disrupt our view of The Milky Way.
Rare space event: How you can see five planets in the sky at the same time. Australians will be able to see Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Uranus and Mars.
While the north pole faces outwards to the Universe beyond, the south pole points to the galactic centre of the Milky Way. This means more bright stars and more constellations containing more stunning objects. Plus, everything in the southern hemisphere sky will look upside down, if you're used to northern skies.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were, and continue to be, careful observers of the stars. The stars are the homes of ancestors, animals, plants, and spirits. The stars serve as calendars, a law book, and inform all aspects of daily life and culture.
Their songs and stories show that Aboriginal Australians sought to understand their Universe in a similar way to modern science. They used this knowledge of the sky to construct calendars, songlines, and other navigational tools, enabling them to navigate across the country, trading artefacts and sacred stories.
In fact, Capella is the biggest and brightest yellow star in our sky. It's much bigger and brighter than our sun in absolute terms, and, of course, much farther away at about 42 light-years.
View the sky clearer than ever in Warrumbungle National Park
You're going to want your camping gear for this one – and a torch. Australia's first and only dark sky park has banned all light pollution in the area to preserve the beauty of the constellations and the animal populations that roam this outback NSW region.
Uluru is one of the most photographed landmarks in Australia, and it's easy to see why. But the park has plenty of photo opportunities beyond Uluru: sweeping landscapes, breathtaking geological formations, delicate wildflowers and the Milky Way twinkling in the night sky.