The unpolluted skies above the South Island allowed photographer Paul Wilson to capture a series of stunning images of the Milky Way. It includes 100 to 400 billion stars and a lot of gas and dust. It is estimated there may be 100 billion planets within the galaxy. The galaxy is home to our solar system and measures about 100,000 to 120,000 light years in diameter. Wilson used a 20-second exposure with an aperture of f3.5 shot through a 24mm lens on a Canon EOS 6D camera.

Source: New Zealand Herald July 14, 2016 20:17 UTC