Here's a similar thing also made from infrared images of the milky way http://djer.roe.ac.uk/vsa/vvv/iipmooviewer-2.0-beta/vvvgps5....
9 Gigapixel Image of the Milky Way
11–20 of 33 posts
Re: 9 Gigapixel Image of the Milky Way
#12Ok, where do I get the 9 Gigapixel version? :-) P.S. Yes, I know I don't really need that much resolution, but still.
I think this is the same picture: http://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/121r3s/torrent_downlo...
Re: 9 Gigapixel Image of the Milky Way
#13Hundreds of billions of planets, and this is just our one small galaxy.
Just given the sheer scale of the universe, I think we almost have to be foolish to think that we're the only life forms that exist in the whole thing.
Re: 9 Gigapixel Image of the Milky Way
#14Ok, where do I get the 9 Gigapixel version? :-) P.S. Yes, I know I don't really need that much resolution, but still.
Fullsize original at 24.6GB http://www.eso.org/public/archives/images/original/eso1242a....
Re: 9 Gigapixel Image of the Milky Way
#15Hundreds of billions of planets, and this is just our one small galaxy. Just given the sheer scale of the universe, I think we almost have to be foolish to think that we're the only life forms that exist in the whole thing.
Yup. It absolutely boggles my mind every time I look up at the stars. Especially when I'm out in the country with no light pollution, and you can clearly make out the light streak signifying the plane of the Milky way through the sky.
> Just given the sheer scale of the universe, I think we almost have to be foolish to think that we're the only life forms that exist in the whole thing.
This is why I like the Drake equation [0]. Even if it is not perfect, it is inherently understandable by the lay person when we are discussing such matters.
Re: 9 Gigapixel Image of the Milky Way
#16Ok, where do I get the 9 Gigapixel version? :-) P.S. Yes, I know I don't really need that much resolution, but still.
> P.S. Yes, I know I don't really need that much resolution, but still. I call bullshit ;-) as at 15" retina is 4Mpix. In a short time span we'll have 20~30" retina)class at that size and they could very well be 9~15Mpix. Of course billion pixels is way too much, but it means that it will scale to the future (I'd love to have a wall-screen with this) Anyway, multiple links are on the lower part of the rightmost colum…
How does ~275Gpix sound? [0][1]. I did a stint at UCSD for two months as an undergrad, and sat next to this monster while they were playing with it.
It might sound stupid having that much resolution, but it really is cool to be able to see that much information in front of you. It's especially good if you have a number of people standing around who are interacting with various data sets.
And if you want one yourself, it is all COTS hardware, and you can start with just a few screens then add later [2].
[0] http://www.calit2.net/newsroom/release.php?id=1307 [1] http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/07-08HIPerSpace.asp [2] http://optiportal.org/index.php/Main_Page#How_to_build_an_Op...
Re: 9 Gigapixel Image of the Milky Way
#17Hundreds of billions of planets, and this is just our one small galaxy. Just given the sheer scale of the universe, I think we almost have to be foolish to think that we're the only life forms that exist in the whole thing.
It’s also foolish (no pun intended) to think that the Universe was meant to have life. We tend to believe that life is what gives meaning to all that vastness but Cosmos doesn’t need a reason for its existence, it’s just there.
Furthermore it’s not about just life but intelligent life. Life in form of microbes could be all around the Universe. But intelligent life could be extremely rare or it could be just too early and we could be the first of many species to come. It’s not egoistic to think so, it doesn’t make us feel unique and special, more likely it makes us feel depressed thinking that we are the only ones or the first of many to come.
If you take the Drake equation for example and tweak a couple of pessimistic numbers you realize it doesn’t take long before you come to the conclusion that life is extremely rare. A very good implementation you can find here: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120821-how-many-alien-worl...
I would also like to point to the Fermi paradox. Given the aforementioned Drake equation many scientists have made estimations about the number of civilization in our galaxy. Estimations vary from a few dozen to the thousands. But if there were even one advanced civilization in the galaxy they should already have made contact somehow. That is the basis of the Fermi paradox, you can find more at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox
Re: 9 Gigapixel Image of the Milky Way
#18I'm not sure if this is by the same photographer, but the image used in the Sky Survey app is pretty incredible as well. http://skysurvey.org
I'm really looking forward to being able to combine detailed visuals like these with the rift 3d headset or like.
boom!
Re: 9 Gigapixel Image of the Milky Way
#19Hundreds of billions of planets, and this is just our one small galaxy. Just given the sheer scale of the universe, I think we almost have to be foolish to think that we're the only life forms that exist in the whole thing.
The whole thing is actually a life form living in some other world. Haven't you seen MIB? :)
Re: 9 Gigapixel Image of the Milky Way
#20It'd be REALLY cool if someone could turn this into a screensaver, where it progressively pans and zooms in/out. Then when you're mind is just about to be blown at full-zoom-in, it should rotate like a boss and slap a new perspective of life into your life.