Milky Way. Optical image of the Milky Way running through the Summer Triangle of three bright stars. North is at top. The stars are Deneb (Alpha Cygni, upper left), Vega (Alpha Lyrae, upper right) and Altair (Alpha Aquilae, lower centre). These stars are in the constellations Cygnus (the swan), Lyra (the lyre) and Aquila (the eagle) respectively. The Milky Way is the band of light crossing the sky formed from the millions of stars in the disc of our galaxy. A large and prominent lane of dust is seen running from Deneb to lower right, which blocks the light of the stars behind it. The constellations seen here are best seen in the summer in the northern hemisphere.