In the framework of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, ESO has launched a new
project aimed at connecting the sky, as seen by the unaided eye, with that seen by hobby
and professional astronomers.
The project, called GigaGalaxy Zoom, reveals three amazing ultra-high-resolution images
of the night sky that online stargazers can zoom in on and explore in an incredible level
of detail.
The reward is the most breathtaking dive ever made into our galaxy, linking the sky seen
by all with the cosmos studied by astronomers.
This is the ESOcast, cutting-edge science and life behind the scenes of ESO, the European
Southern Observatory.
In today's ESOcast, we will explore the unique and amazing GigaGalaxy Zoom project, which
reveals the whole night sky as it appears with the unaided eye from one of the darkest
deserts on Earth.
The project allows users to zoom in on a rich region of the Milky Way, with a magnification
offered by a hobby telescope, and then to go one step further, using the power of a professional
telescope to explore details of an iconic nebula.
Most of the photographs comprising the three GigaGalaxy Zoom images were taken from La
Silla and Paranal, two of ESO's observing sites in Chile.
The wonderful quality of the images is a testament to the splendor of the night sky at these ESO
sites, which are the most productive astronomical observatories in the world.
The first image taken by the renowned French writer and astrophotographer Serge Brunier
aims to present the sky as people have experienced it the world over, though in the far greater
detail offered by top-notch stargazing conditions and incorporating the view from both hemispheres.
Brunier spent several weeks capturing the sky with a digital camera, mostly from ESO
observatories at La Silla and Paranal in Chile.
To cover the full arc of the Milky Way, Brunier also made a week-long trip to La Palma, one
of the Canary Islands to photograph the northern skies.
The final image, the result of 120 hours of observations, provides a magnificent 800 million
pixel panorama of the whole Milky Way.
This 360-degree panoramic image, covering the entire celestial sphere, reveals the cosmic
landscape that surrounds our tiny blue planet.
The plane of our Milky Way galaxy, which we see edge on from our perspective on Earth,
cuts a luminous swathe across the image, almost as if we were looking at the Milky Way from
the outside.
The second image was captured by another renowned astrophotographer named Stefan Guisard.
Stefan is also the chief optician at the ESO Paranal Observatory, where he is responsible
for making sure that the very large telescope has the best possible optical quality.
This second image directly benefits from the dark and cloudless sky at Paranal, one of
the best observing sites on the planet, and from Stefan's professional expertise as an
optical engineer specializing in telescopes.
To snap the photographic music of the central parts of our galactic home, Stefan relied on
a 10-centimeter aperture hobby telescope coupled with a CCD camera.
The final result produced by Stefan, together with ESO's image experts, is a colour image
of the Milky Way containing more than 340 million pixels.
The image combines about 1,200 photos for a total exposure time of at least 250 hours.
The resulting image beautifully exhibits the sky, spanning several constellations from Sagittarius
to Scorpius, an area that includes the galactic centre, the famous lagoon and triphid nebulae
on the left, and the colourful Antares and Rho Ophiuchus region on the right.
The third image of the Gigagalaxy Zoom project illustrates the power of professional astronomy.
It covers a one-degree field of view, or about two times the width of the full moon, using
the wide-field imager attached to the MPG ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the ESO La Silla
Observatory.
This camera has already created several of the most iconic pictures produced by ESO.
The professional image is a zoom into the attractive and intriguing lagoon nebulae.
Scattered dark patches within this 100 light-year wide nebulae are huge clouds of gas and dust
collapsing under their own weight. Soon they will give birth to clusters of young, glowing
stars.
Together these three stunning images allow for a unique exploration of a magnificently
detailed cosmic environment from the scale seen by the unaided eye into the astronomer's
realm.
Enjoy this dive into the starry depths of our Milky Way, from the eye to the telescope.
