Use This Interactive Map to Explore 200,000 Galaxies
If you’ve ever wanted to travel to a galaxy far, far away, now’s your chance to get at least a peak in some of them on the map – about 200,000 galaxies, to be more specific. But it’s not just an interactive map of the universe : it’s the first map to display “the extent of the entire known cosmos with the highest precision,” according to a report from Johns Hopkins University .
University astronomers created the map using data collected over a 20-year period with a telescope in New Mexico. This information is available to the general public for the first time. Here’s how you can use the map to explore the universe.
What’s on the map of the universe
The interactive map visualizes a slice of the universe, displaying the actual positions and colors of approximately 200,000 galaxies, each of which (including the Milky Way) is represented by a dot on the map and contains billions of stars and planets.
“On this map, we are just a speck at the very bottom, just one pixel. And when I say “we,” I mean our galaxy, the Milky Way, which has billions of stars and planets,” Brice Menard , a professor at Johns Hopkins University and one of the map makers, said in a university statement . “We are used to seeing astronomical images showing one galaxy here, one galaxy there, or perhaps a group of galaxies. But what this map shows is on a completely different scale.”
How to use the interactive map
Visit the project website to access an interactive map of the universe. You can either start poking around in yourself or hit “explore map” in the bottom right corner for a tour. It is also possible to download four different versions of the map in three different sizes.