Zooming In on the Andromeda Galaxy, also known as Gigapixels of Andromeda, is a 2015 composite photograph of the Andromeda Galaxy produced by the Hubble Space Telescope. It is 1.5 billion pixels in size, and is the largest image ever released by the telescope.[1] At the time of its release to the public, the image was one of the largest ever taken.[2]
| Zooming In on the Andromeda Galaxy | |
|---|---|
| Gigapixels of Andromeda | |
 The full-resolution mosaic | |
| Artist | NASA, using the Hubble Space Telescope |
| Year | 2010-2015 |
| Type | Panorama |
| Subject | Andromeda Galaxy |
| Dimensions | 69,536 x 22,230 pixels |
In late 2011, the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) was set up,[1] which was tasked with mapping one-third of the stars within the Andromeda Galaxy. As of 2024, the survey has detected an estimated 117,000,000 astronomical objects using six light filters.[3][4]
The image depicts the left-most side of the Andromeda Galaxy's galactic disc in visible light,[5][6] and the displayed section is approximately 61,000 light-years across.[7][8] The image shows the galaxy's 100 million stars of varying types and thousands of star clusters.[7][9][10] In the bottom-left of the image is the galaxy's nucleus, and dust lanes are also visible.[11] Several other deep-space objects are visible in the image, including background galaxies. Stars within the Milky Way are also visible, and are typically larger than stars within the Andromeda Galaxy.[12][13]
The final composite was stitched together using 411 exposures taken from July of 2010 to October of 2013,[14] and the image was first displayed at the 225th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle, Washington.[7][15]
The mosaic is the largest and sharpest composite photograph ever taken of the Andromeda Galaxy, and the largest ever taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.[1][16] At the time of its release, the image was also one of the largest throughout all photographs.[2] The image has been used to help astronomers detect more Andromeda-like spiral galaxies using light.[5]
See also
editExternal links
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c "Hubble Snaps 1.5 Billion-Pixel Close-Up of Andromeda Galaxy". NBC News. 2015-01-21. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
- ^ a b "NASA releases largest picture ever taken". wbir.com. 2015-01-20. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
- ^ "Astro Data Lab - Survey Data". datalab.noirlab.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
- ^ "PHAT". MAST. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
- ^ a b "Hubble takes the biggest image ever of Andromeda at 1.5 billion pixels". cosmosmagazine.com. 2015-01-05. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
- ^ Malewar, Amit (2022-08-02). "NASA shares the largest-ever image of the Andromeda galaxy". Tech Explorist. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
- ^ a b c ESO. "Andromeda in HD - Hubble captures the sharpest ever view of neighbouring spiral Galaxy". www.esahubble.org. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
- ^ "Hubble's High-Definition Panoramic View of the Andromeda Galaxy". HubbleSite. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
- ^ "ESA Science & Technology - Sharpest ever view of the Andromeda Galaxy". sci.esa.int. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
- ^ "This Incredible 1.5-Billion-Pixel Image Is the Biggest Hubble Picture Ever". Popular Mechanics. 2015-01-20. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
- ^ "Hubble captures sharpest ever image of Andromeda". New Atlas. 2015-01-22. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
- ^ "ESA Science & Technology - Annotated section of Hubble image of the Andromeda Galaxy". sci.esa.int. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
- ^ Malewar, Amit (2022-08-02). "NASA shares the largest-ever image of the Andromeda galaxy". Tech Explorist. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
- ^ Trembley, Bob (2015-01-09). "High-Definition Panoramic View of the Andromeda Galaxy". Vatican Observatory. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
- ^ "NASA releases largest picture ever taken". kvue.com. 2015-01-20. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
- ^ "NASA shows largest image ever of Andromeda Galaxy". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2024-10-18.