Take a Look Into the Heart of the Milky Way
Posted by Ben Huber on Oct 29, 2012 in Science
Here’s a great way to start your week if you’re a space fan: a 9-gigapixel (yes, giga) image of the Milky Way taken by the VISTA at the ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. Thousands of images that were taken by the telescope were stitched together and then released in one enormous 108,500 x 85,500 pixel picture – and it looks absolutely gorgeous. It was run through three infrared filters so we can see stars that would usually be hidden in a normal view. If you’d like you can visit the site and see higher-res versions of the image, or even download the original full-size picture! Yes, all 24 gigs of it!