Center of Milky Way Pictured in 9-gigapixel Image

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ESO has released a 9-gigapixel image of the central part our galaxy that shows more than 84 million stars. It is the largest picture ever taken of the Milky Way.

The image was formed with the help of the VISTA infrared survey telescope at ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile. Measuring 12-foot in diameter, the telescope has a camera with 16 infrared detectors and a total resolution of 67 megapixels. Data from six separate surveys involving the camera enabled ESO to stitch together a picture that has now a resolution of 108,200 by 81,500 pixels. Printed in a reasonable resolution (600 dpi) to highlight the content, the image would result in a size of 180 x 136 inches or about 15 x 11 feet. ESO said that the image shows about 84 million stars in the center of our galaxy.

"Each star occupies a particular spot in this diagram at any moment during its lifetime," explained Dante Minniti from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, and co-author of the study. "Where it falls depends on how bright it is and how hot it is. Since the new data gives us a snapshot of all the stars in one go, we can now make a census of all the stars in this part of the Milky Way."

At the time of this writing the zoomable picture was removed from the ESO's website due to overwhelming demand from web users. The organization said it will be offering the full picture at a later point in time again.

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Wolfgang Gruener

Wolfgang Gruener is Director, digital strategy and content experience at American Eagle, where he specializes in strategic data analysis, user behavior models and information architecture (IA), as well as content strategy and governance. He was also Managing Editor of the website TG Daily and contributor to sites including Tom's Guide and Tom's Hardware.

34 Comments Comment from the forums
  • wardoc22
    Where can I download this?
    Reply
  • RogueKitsune
    At the time of this writing the zoomable picture was removed from the ESO's website due to overwhelming demand from web users. The organization said it will be offering the full picture at a later point in time again.

    Very sad i wanted to see it. Hopefully it will be back up before i forget about it :p
    Reply
  • kitsune: hopefully the stars can see us before we are forgotten.
    Reply
  • Shin-san
    850 x 425 isn't even 1 megapixel. Where is it, toms
    Reply
  • Deep
    Reply
  • will ESO offer any kind of print or poster for sale?
    Reply
  • back_by_demand
    Shin-san850 x 425 isn't even 1 megapixel. Where is it, tomsRead the fu*king story and get some medication for that ADHD
    Reply
  • hydac7
    just cool , very cool , so where can i get the full picture ?
    Reply
  • robochump
    RogueKitsuneVery sad i wanted to see it. Hopefully it will be back up before i forget about it
    Yeah, NOW I hear about it! Sigh...
    Reply
  • that's me just left of center WAVING
    Reply