New map of the universe unveiled (Dialup Warning)

[Turborama]

Source: ITN

The largest digital image of our view of the night sky, which maps the universe in more detail than any previous image, has been released by scientists.

The international Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III (SDSS-III) collaboration is releasing the image free to all, allowing both professional astronomers and "citizen scientists" to use it to make new discoveries.

The composite image has been put together over the past decade from more than seven million 2.8 megapixel images, creating a colour image of more than a trillion pixels. This terapixel image is so big and detailed that 500,000 high-definition televisions would be needed to view it at its full resolution.

SDSS data has already been used to discover nearly half a billion astronomical objects, including asteroids, stars, galaxies and distant quasars.

The image released on Tuesday was begun in 1998 using what was then the world's largest digital camera, a 126-megapixel imaging detector on the back of a dedicated 2.5m telescope at the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, US.

Read more: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20110111/twl-new-map-of-the-universe-unveiled-41f21e0.html

---

ITN Report: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC-n_5_LQjs

Astronomers Release the Largest Image of the Sky Ever Made

SEATTLE, Jan. 11 -- On Tuesday, Jan. 11, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III (SDSS-III) released the largest digital image of the sky ever made, and it's free to all. The image has been put together over the last decade from millions of 2.8-megapixel images, thus creating a color image of more than a trillion pixels. This terapixel image is so big and detailed that one would need 500,000 high-definition TVs to view it at its full resolution.

"This image provides opportunities for many new scientific discoveries in the years to come," exclaims Bob Nichol, a professor at the University of Portsmouth and Scientific Spokesperson for the SDSS-III collaboration.

The new image is at the heart of new data being released by the SDSS-III collaboration at the 217th American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle. This new SDSS-III data release, along with the previous data releases that it builds upon, gives astronomers the most comprehensive view of the night sky ever made. SDSS data have already been used to discover nearly half a billion astronomical objects, including asteroids, stars, galaxies, and distant quasars. The latest, most precise positions, colors, and shapes for all these objects are also being released today.

"This is one of the biggest giveaways in the history of science," says Professor Mike Blanton from New York University, who is leading the data archive work in SDSS-III. Blanton and many other scientists have been working for months preparing the release of all this data. This data will be a legacy for the ages, explains Blanton, as previous ambitious sky surveys, like the Palomar Sky Survey of the 1950s, are still being used as references even today. "We expect the SDSS data to have that sort of shelf life," comments Blanton.

More: http://www.hpcwire.com/offthewire/Astronomers-Release-the-Largest-Image-of-the-Sky-Ever-Made-113310929.html?ref=929

SDSS-III's homepage: http://www.sdss3.org/

Images & press release available here: http://sdss3.wordpress.com/2011/01/11/aas-press-conference/

[FSogol]

1. You are here! No wonder I can never find the Orange Julius stand. n/t

[awoke_in_2003]

7. damn, I miss Orange Julius. nt

[burrowowl]

2. Far out!

Thanks for SDSS link!

[thaddeus_flowe]

3. i'm so glad my brain is small

because this just blows it away.

"Because the world is round it turns me on
Because the world is round...aaaaaahhhhhh

Because the wind is high it blows my mind
Because the wind is high......aaaaaaaahhhh

Love is all, love is new
Love is all, love is you

Because the sky is blue, it makes me cry
Because the sky is blue.......aaaaaaaahhhh"

[Rage for Order]

4. Yeah, but what happens after the magnetic poles reverse???

:tinfoilhat:

[Swagman]

5. nice to know we aren't alone..surely someone is out there ?

:think:

[NYC Liberal]

6. "The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe

is that none of it has tried to contact us."

-Calvin & Hobbes ;)

[awoke_in_2003]

8. Now all we need to do...

is build a Total Perspective Vortex. "In an infinite universe, the one thing sentient life cannot afford to have is a sense of proportion."

[Peace Patriot]

9. Here is the caption to the picture (which is not easy to find)...

(It is also not very explanatory but, for what it's worth, here it is...)

ILLUSTRATIONS

http://tinyurl.com/2amuwcj

Caption:
This illustration shows the wealth of information on scales both small and large
available in the SDSS-III's new image. The picture in the top left shows the SDSS-III
view of a small part of the sky, centered on the galaxy Messier 33 (M33). The middle
top picture is a further zoom-in on M33, showing the spiral arms of this Galaxy,
including the blue knots of intense star formation known as "HII regions." The top
right-hand picture is a further zoom into M33 showing the object NGC604, which is
one of the largest HII regions in that galaxy.

The figure at the bottom is a map of the whole sky derived from the SDSS-III image,
divided into the northern and southern hemispheres of our galaxy. Visible in the map
are the clusters and walls of galaxies that are the largest structures in the entire
universe.

Larger images of the maps in the northern and southern galactic hemispheres are
available at:

http://tinyurl.com/27tntqb
http://tinyurl.com/25z4h3e

All image credits:
M. Blanton and the SDSS-III

http://sdss3.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/aas-print-release.pdf
(very bottom of the page)

[Turborama]

10. Thanks for that, much appreciated.

I couldn't find it at the time.

[Bandit]

11. I think it is shown inside out.

:silly:

[ElsewheresDaughter]

12. all we are is dust in the wind