A site offers to let you interactively explore the most detailed map of the universe to date. The interface, similar to a sort of Google Maps, lets you zoom in as much as you want, right up to the limits of current telescope capabilities. A fascinating journey that could well keep you busy for hours.
On Phonandroid, we regularly discuss the latest discoveries about space. All with a wealth of images whenever appropriate. Now, you can also make interesting discoveries yourself by wandering through one of the most comprehensive interactive maps of the cosmos to date.
This map, put online by the American university Caltech, as part of its study Cosmic Evolution Survey, brings together some 1.5 TB of data – including the latest images from the JWST space telescope. It's possible to get lost for weeks, the dataset is so massive. And yet, it might surprise you: this map actually only covers 0.54 degrees squared of the observable sky.
How can you access this ultra-detailed map of the cosmos?
Not even the equivalent of a drop of water on the scale of what can be observed from Earth. Still, there are no fewer than 800,000 galaxies, and an innumerable quantity of stars of various categories and distances. Which teach us a lot about the formation of the Universe, about phenomena like gravitational lenses, black holes.
But also the formation of the solar system and our planet itself. The map is available by clicking on this link. To really get the most out of it, we recommend using the filters at the top right of the view. This allows you to activate the imagery of various instruments, like NIRCam (the JWST images), RGB views in real color and other options.
An option also allows you to circle interesting objects. With the ability to click, which gives you an ID that allows you to find more information and raw images about the object in question. You can also change the contrast and brightness, among other things, to make identifying certain faint objects easier.
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