5 ms·

9 Gigapixel Image of the Milky Way

129 points by onosendai 14y ago

chaosmachine 14y ago
Zoomable: http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/117375 http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/117375
- NiekvdMaas 14y ago
  Official zoomable version: http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1242a/zoomable/ http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1242a/zoomable/
- tymekpavel 14y ago
  Thank you. The official zoomable version loads far too slowly.
VorticonCmdr 14y ago
Very cool. Does anyone know why some areas are somewhat blueish. And what about the very bright stars?
- wl 14y ago
  The colors are a bit arbitrary. The sensor that takes these images only records intensity and not color. Different filters are placed over the sensor to record different wavelengths. Not all of these wavelengths are visible light. The colors are a mapping of these wavelengths to the visible spectrum.
- bitJericho 14y ago
  The very bright stars are just very close, dozens of lightyears instead of hundreds or thousands.
lhtbws 14y ago
This is amazing. When you can zoom in on a bright speck and discover that it's actually a giant cluster of stars, and then continue zooming in on that cluster until it doesn't seem dense anymore, it actually lends context to the static photos of space we've all seen before.
eslaught 14y ago
Ok, where do I get the 9 Gigapixel version? :-) P.S. Yes, I know I don't really need that much resolution, but still.
- lloeki 14y ago
  > P.S. Yes, I know I don't really need that much resolution, but still. I call bullshit ;-) as at 15" retina is 4Mpix. In a short time span we'll have 20~30" retina)class at that size and they could very well be 9~15Mpix. Of course billion pixels is way too much, but it means that it will scale to the future (I'd love to have a wall-screen with this) Anyway, multiple links are on the lower part of the rightmost column, available from 1024x768 to full res in a variety of formats.
  - pserwylo 14y ago
    How does ~275Gpix sound? [0][1]. I did a stint at UCSD for two months as an undergrad, and sat next to this monster while they were playing with it. It might sound stupid having that much resolution, but it really is cool to be able to see that much information in front of you. It's especially good if you have a number of people standing around who are interacting with various data sets. And if you want one yourself, it is all COTS hardware, and you can start with just a few screens then add later [2]. [0] http://www.calit2.net/newsroom/release.php?id=1307 http://www.calit2.net/newsroom/release.php?id=1307 [1] http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/07-08HIPerSpace.asp http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/07-08HIPerSpace.asp [2] http://optiportal.org/index.php/Main_Page#How_to_build_an_Optiportal http://optiportal.org/index.php/Main_Page#How_to_build_an_Op...
- Flow 14y ago
  I think this is the same picture: http://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/121r3s/torrent_download_for_full_image_nine_billionpixel/ http://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/121r3s/torrent_downlo...
- xhrpost 14y ago
  Fullsize original at 24.6GB http://www.eso.org/public/archives/images/original/eso1242a.psb http://www.eso.org/public/archives/images/original/eso1242a....
3rd3 14y ago
Are there some well known features on the picture?
Father 14y ago
Here's a similar thing also made from infrared images of the milky way http://djer.roe.ac.uk/vsa/vvv/iipmooviewer-2.0-beta/vvvgps5.html http://djer.roe.ac.uk/vsa/vvv/iipmooviewer-2.0-beta/vvvgps5....
s_henry_paulson 14y ago
Hundreds of billions of planets, and this is just our one small galaxy. Just given the sheer scale of the universe, I think we almost have to be foolish to think that we're the only life forms that exist in the whole thing.
- pserwylo 14y ago
  Yup. It absolutely boggles my mind every time I look up at the stars. Especially when I'm out in the country with no light pollution, and you can clearly make out the light streak signifying the plane of the Milky way through the sky. > Just given the sheer scale of the universe, I think we almost have to be foolish to think that we're the only life forms that exist in the whole thing. This is why I like the Drake equation [0]. Even if it is not perfect, it is inherently understandable by the lay person when we are discussing such matters. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation
- elorant 14y ago
  It’s also foolish (no pun intended) to think that the Universe was meant to have life. We tend to believe that life is what gives meaning to all that vastness but Cosmos doesn’t need a reason for its existence, it’s just there. Furthermore it’s not about just life but intelligent life. Life in form of microbes could be all around the Universe. But intelligent life could be extremely rare or it could be just too early and we could be the first of many species to come. It’s not egoistic to think so, it doesn’t make us feel unique and special, more likely it makes us feel depressed thinking that we are the only ones or the first of many to come. If you take the Drake equation for example and tweak a couple of pessimistic numbers you realize it doesn’t take long before you come to the conclusion that life is extremely rare. A very good implementation you can find here: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120821-how-many-alien-worlds-exist http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120821-how-many-alien-worl... I would also like to point to the Fermi paradox. Given the aforementioned Drake equation many scientists have made estimations about the number of civilization in our galaxy. Estimations vary from a few dozen to the thousands. But if there were even one advanced civilization in the galaxy they should already have made contact somehow. That is the basis of the Fermi paradox, you can find more at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox
aaronmoodie 14y ago
I'm not sure if this is by the same photographer, but the image used in the Sky Survey app is pretty incredible as well. http://skysurvey.org http://skysurvey.org I'm really looking forward to being able to combine detailed visuals like these with the rift 3d headset or like. boom!
colinwinter 14y ago
It'd be REALLY cool if someone could turn this into a screensaver, where it progressively pans and zooms in/out. Then when you're mind is just about to be blown at full-zoom-in, it should rotate like a boss and slap a new perspective of life into your life.
andrewcooke 14y ago
abstract http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012A%26A...537A.107S http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012A%26A...537A.107S with link to paper (i think; still downloading paper). update: the paper is fairly large and doesn't have pretty pictures (it has lots of technical plots, but i imagine it's not what most people think of as a fun read). also, this image is more a "public view" of the data; the paper is for the underlying survey.
bajsejohannes 14y ago
Why is the milky way (I assume that's what we call the fat strip) not centered? Is that just a projection thing? Does the edges of this image wrap? (I know shamefully little astronomy)
- stargazer-3 14y ago
  What do you mean by 'not centered'? Imagine you are standing on a field of corn. To you, the field looks like a line encircling you, although it may look like a square or circle from above. There's your projection thing.
maeon3 14y ago
It's really really big. What gets you is that it's really there, go outside and look up. All those stars, all that energy running down, without anything harnessing that energy. There it is, running down like a forest fire. What will it turn into next? I see the universe as an egg. And it's designed to become a single super sentient entity someday that makes our sentience look like inanimate energy. Our sentience will be the inanimate matter building blocks for something we can't comprehend. We will comprehend it as much as a carbon molecule comprehends the human mind.
rorrr 14y ago
If you zoom all the way in, it's blurry (I know, I waited for the tiles to load). There's no single-pixel detail. That means it's not really a 9-gigapixel image, you can easily reduce it by 2x2, and make it a 2.3-gigapixel images. Save space, bandwidth and time for everyone.
- seandougall 14y ago
  I found the same thing, but see chaosmachine's reply above. The unofficial version actually works.
brandoncapecci 14y ago
How long until we have a macbook with 108,500 by 81,500 resolution?
jordanmoore_ 14y ago
... in a lightbox!

129 points by onosendai 14y ago

chaosmachine 14y ago

Zoomable: http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/117375 http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/117375

NiekvdMaas 14y ago
Official zoomable version: http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1242a/zoomable/ http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1242a/zoomable/
tymekpavel 14y ago
Thank you. The official zoomable version loads far too slowly.

VorticonCmdr 14y ago

Very cool. Does anyone know why some areas are somewhat blueish. And what about the very bright stars?

wl 14y ago
The colors are a bit arbitrary. The sensor that takes these images only records intensity and not color. Different filters are placed over the sensor to record different wavelengths. Not all of these wavelengths are visible light. The colors are a mapping of these wavelengths to the visible spectrum.
bitJericho 14y ago
The very bright stars are just very close, dozens of lightyears instead of hundreds or thousands.

lhtbws 14y ago

This is amazing. When you can zoom in on a bright speck and discover that it's actually a giant cluster of stars, and then continue zooming in on that cluster until it doesn't seem dense anymore, it actually lends context to the static photos of space we've all seen before.

eslaught 14y ago

Ok, where do I get the 9 Gigapixel version? :-) P.S. Yes, I know I don't really need that much resolution, but still.

lloeki 14y ago
> P.S. Yes, I know I don't really need that much resolution, but still. I call bullshit ;-) as at 15" retina is 4Mpix. In a short time span we'll have 20~30" retina)class at that size and they could very well be 9~15Mpix. Of course billion pixels is way too much, but it means that it will scale to the future (I'd love to have a wall-screen with this) Anyway, multiple links are on the lower part of the rightmost column, available from 1024x768 to full res in a variety of formats.
- pserwylo 14y ago
  How does ~275Gpix sound? [0][1]. I did a stint at UCSD for two months as an undergrad, and sat next to this monster while they were playing with it. It might sound stupid having that much resolution, but it really is cool to be able to see that much information in front of you. It's especially good if you have a number of people standing around who are interacting with various data sets. And if you want one yourself, it is all COTS hardware, and you can start with just a few screens then add later [2]. [0] http://www.calit2.net/newsroom/release.php?id=1307 http://www.calit2.net/newsroom/release.php?id=1307 [1] http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/07-08HIPerSpace.asp http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/07-08HIPerSpace.asp [2] http://optiportal.org/index.php/Main_Page#How_to_build_an_Optiportal http://optiportal.org/index.php/Main_Page#How_to_build_an_Op...
Flow 14y ago
I think this is the same picture: http://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/121r3s/torrent_download_for_full_image_nine_billionpixel/ http://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/121r3s/torrent_downlo...
xhrpost 14y ago
Fullsize original at 24.6GB http://www.eso.org/public/archives/images/original/eso1242a.psb http://www.eso.org/public/archives/images/original/eso1242a....

3rd3 14y ago

Are there some well known features on the picture?

Father 14y ago

Here's a similar thing also made from infrared images of the milky way http://djer.roe.ac.uk/vsa/vvv/iipmooviewer-2.0-beta/vvvgps5.html http://djer.roe.ac.uk/vsa/vvv/iipmooviewer-2.0-beta/vvvgps5....

s_henry_paulson 14y ago

Hundreds of billions of planets, and this is just our one small galaxy. Just given the sheer scale of the universe, I think we almost have to be foolish to think that we're the only life forms that exist in the whole thing.

pserwylo 14y ago
Yup. It absolutely boggles my mind every time I look up at the stars. Especially when I'm out in the country with no light pollution, and you can clearly make out the light streak signifying the plane of the Milky way through the sky. > Just given the sheer scale of the universe, I think we almost have to be foolish to think that we're the only life forms that exist in the whole thing. This is why I like the Drake equation [0]. Even if it is not perfect, it is inherently understandable by the lay person when we are discussing such matters. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation
elorant 14y ago
It’s also foolish (no pun intended) to think that the Universe was meant to have life. We tend to believe that life is what gives meaning to all that vastness but Cosmos doesn’t need a reason for its existence, it’s just there. Furthermore it’s not about just life but intelligent life. Life in form of microbes could be all around the Universe. But intelligent life could be extremely rare or it could be just too early and we could be the first of many species to come. It’s not egoistic to think so, it doesn’t make us feel unique and special, more likely it makes us feel depressed thinking that we are the only ones or the first of many to come. If you take the Drake equation for example and tweak a couple of pessimistic numbers you realize it doesn’t take long before you come to the conclusion that life is extremely rare. A very good implementation you can find here: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120821-how-many-alien-worlds-exist http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120821-how-many-alien-worl... I would also like to point to the Fermi paradox. Given the aforementioned Drake equation many scientists have made estimations about the number of civilization in our galaxy. Estimations vary from a few dozen to the thousands. But if there were even one advanced civilization in the galaxy they should already have made contact somehow. That is the basis of the Fermi paradox, you can find more at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox

aaronmoodie 14y ago

I'm not sure if this is by the same photographer, but the image used in the Sky Survey app is pretty incredible as well. http://skysurvey.org http://skysurvey.org I'm really looking forward to being able to combine detailed visuals like these with the rift 3d headset or like. boom!

colinwinter 14y ago

It'd be REALLY cool if someone could turn this into a screensaver, where it progressively pans and zooms in/out. Then when you're mind is just about to be blown at full-zoom-in, it should rotate like a boss and slap a new perspective of life into your life.

andrewcooke 14y ago

abstract http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012A%26A...537A.107S http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012A%26A...537A.107S with link to paper (i think; still downloading paper). update: the paper is fairly large and doesn't have pretty pictures (it has lots of technical plots, but i imagine it's not what most people think of as a fun read). also, this image is more a "public view" of the data; the paper is for the underlying survey.

bajsejohannes 14y ago

Why is the milky way (I assume that's what we call the fat strip) not centered? Is that just a projection thing? Does the edges of this image wrap? (I know shamefully little astronomy)

stargazer-3 14y ago
What do you mean by 'not centered'? Imagine you are standing on a field of corn. To you, the field looks like a line encircling you, although it may look like a square or circle from above. There's your projection thing.

maeon3 14y ago

It's really really big. What gets you is that it's really there, go outside and look up. All those stars, all that energy running down, without anything harnessing that energy. There it is, running down like a forest fire. What will it turn into next? I see the universe as an egg. And it's designed to become a single super sentient entity someday that makes our sentience look like inanimate energy. Our sentience will be the inanimate matter building blocks for something we can't comprehend. We will comprehend it as much as a carbon molecule comprehends the human mind.

rorrr 14y ago

If you zoom all the way in, it's blurry (I know, I waited for the tiles to load). There's no single-pixel detail. That means it's not really a 9-gigapixel image, you can easily reduce it by 2x2, and make it a 2.3-gigapixel images. Save space, bandwidth and time for everyone.

seandougall 14y ago
I found the same thing, but see chaosmachine's reply above. The unofficial version actually works.

brandoncapecci 14y ago

How long until we have a macbook with 108,500 by 81,500 resolution?

jordanmoore_ 14y ago

... in a lightbox!