1.5 million objects: Researchers compile largest map of the Milky Way
Observations were made for 13 years, resulting in a data set of 500 terabytes. The mega-project has now come to an end. But only for the time being.
The lobster fog
(Image: ESO)
Researchers have published the most detailed infrared map of the Milky Way to date with more than 1.5 billion objects. It was compiled from over 200,000 images taken over an observation period of 13 years. According to project leader Dante Minniti, it will change the view of our galaxy forever thanks to many new discoveries.
The VISTA telescope (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile was used for the project. Recording began in 2010. According to the ESO, the volume of data amounts to around 500 terabytes. The resulting image is too large to be published online.
Looking behind dust and gas
The infrared images allow astronomers to "look" through dust and gas. This opens up a view of otherwise hidden areas of the Milky Way. The resulting precise 3D view of the inner Milky Way is already the basis for over 300 scientific articles and will probably be useful for research for decades to come. It is seen as a supplement to images taken by space missions such as Gaia or the James Webb Space Telescope.
The map covers an area of the sky equivalent to 8600 full moons, it says, including about ten times more objects than a previous map from 2012. Included are newborn stars, globular clusters containing the oldest stars in the Milky Way, brown dwarfs, hyper-fast stars from the galactic center that were catapulted away due to a close encounter with a black hole, and also free planets.
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Plans for the next map
The ESO telescope is already thinking about the next mapping. By upgrading with a new instrument (4MOST) and installing a new instrument (MOONS), the telescope is to be prepared for further discoveries. The aim is to carry out a spectral analysis of millions of mapped objects.
(mki)
