Explanation:
Majestic nebulae and stars of our
Milky Way Galaxy stretch
across this panoramic image of the entire night sky.
At full resolution, the 5 gigapixel mosaic was stitched together from
over 37,000 images, the result of a season following,
year long effort and 60,000 travel miles in search of
still dark skies in the American west and the western Cape of
South Africa.
The well-planned project
combined many exposures from the dark sites,
intended to produce an
inspiring view of the night to rival the brightness of day.
An
interactive journey
through the scene
will uncover
a congeries of innumerable stars with vast clouds of
gas and dust
strewn along the galactic plane and central bulge, too faint to see with
the unaided eye.
Even galaxies of
stars beyond our Milky Way can be found
within the cosmic vista.
