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By watching a massive black hole devouring a huge gas cloud, scientists are getting the first ever glimpse of how …
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but this just leaves us speechless. Pictured above is a compressed 108,500 x 81,500 pixel image of 84 million stars across central parts of the Milky Way. Taken by the VISTA survey telescope at the ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile, this 9-gigapixel photo is the result of thousands of individual images being meshed together. If it were printed out at the average resolution of a standard book it would measure a mind-boggling 9 x 7 meters. Using three separate infrared filters, VISTA is able to see through dust fields that normally obscure the view of an optical telescope. By studying this monumental image, astronomers hope to gain a better understanding of how galaxies form and evolve. If you'd like to take a look at this galactic work of art in its entirety, you can do so by visiting the source link below.
(Image credit: ESO/VVV Consortium)
Continue reading 9-gigapixel image of the Milky Way reminds us just how small we truly are
9-gigapixel image of the Milky Way reminds us just how small we truly are originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Oct 2012 06:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Hubble team over at NASA has confirmed what it's suspected for a while: that our galaxy is destined for a direct collision / love fest with Andromeda, culminating in the birth of "Milkomeda." But don't go lobbying Virgin Galactic for ring-side tickets just yet because the fireworks won't go off for another four billion years -- and last another two billion after that. Scientists also predict that the earth won't be threatened thanks to the sheer amount of empty space between stars, but we could lose the sun as its flung out to some other part of the new system. You hear that? We could lose the freakin' sun!!
Hubble reveals unavoidable collision between our galaxy and Andromeda originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jun 2012 10:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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