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Short Sharp Science: New 3D map shows the universe in greatest detail yet
Covering 95 per cent of the sky in the infrared part of the spectrum, the 2MASS Redshift Survey (2MRS) map shows the distribution of galaxies and dark matter that make up the local universe up to 380 million light years away. The map also shows more distant objects. The purple areas denote galaxies closest to Earth, whist the red areas are the furthest, lying about 1 billion light years from Earth. The map is based on data gathered in the southern hemisphere by the 1.2-metre Schmidt telescope in Siding Springs, Australia, and in the northern hemisphere by the 1.2-metre telescope at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Arizona. Altogether, the maps shows approximately 45,000 galaxies.
Interactive 360 The Photopic Sky Survey is a 5,000 megapixel photograph of the entire night sky stitched together from 37,440 exposures. Large in size and scope, it portrays a world far beyond the one beneath our feet and reveals our familiar Milky Way with unfamiliar clarity. When we look upon this image, we are in fact peering back in time, as much of the light—having traveled such vast distances—predates civilization itself. Seen at a depth thousands of times more faint than the dimmest visible star, tens of millions of other suns appear, still perhaps only a hundredth of one percent thought to exist in our galaxy alone. Our Milky Way galaxy is the dominant feature, its dusty arms sweeping through the frame, punctuated by red clouds of glowing hydrogen.
Photopic Sky Survey
Zoom from the edge of the universe to the quantum foam of spacetime and learn the scale of things along the way! Learn the size of the Pillars of Creation and marvel at the minuscule scale of a neutrino!
The Scale of the Universe