Space
It took more than 10 years to get this mega-photograph of the Andromeda galaxy that has blown people’s minds
Astronomers have completed a stunning massive photomosaic of our closest celestial neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, comprised of at least 2.5 billion pixels.
Astronomers have tallied more than a trillion galaxies floating around our universe but one stands out among them all in the night sky due to its proximity to the Milky Way. While 2.5 million light-years away, the Andromeda galaxy can be visible to the naked eye on clear autumn nights.
But the Hubble Telescope can see it even more sharply from space without the atmosphere impeding its view and using its powerful imaging capabilities. For the past decade, it has been taking pictures of our closest celestial neighbor, 600 of which have been assembled by astronomers into the largest photomosaic of Andromeda.
“Stunning, colorful mosaic captures the glow of 200 million stars”
The recently unveiled colorful portrait captures the glow of over 200 million stars, just around a fifth of the estimated total population of Andromeda, which “look like grains of sand across the beach.” The stunning photomosaic is comprised of at least 2.5 billion pixels.
Creating the mosaic was no small feat, requiring 1,000 Hubble orbits and more than ten years. The effort was a “herculean task” because of the size of the target due to its proximity. “In angular size it is six times the apparent diameter of the full Moon,” explains the European Space Agency (ESA) adding that “for Hubble’s pinpoint view, that’s a lot of celestial real estate to cover.”
The full mosaic was carried out under two Hubble observing programs. First the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) program photographing the northern half and then the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Southern Treasury (PHAST). “Images were obtained at near-ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared wavelengths using the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Wide Field Camera aboard Hubble to photograph the northern half of Andromeda,” shared the ESA.
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