Astronomers at Ruhr University Bochum in Germany, headed by Professor Rolf Chini, have created the largest and by far the most detailed astronomical image of the Milky Way galaxy.
The incredible results of their work are now available online. A special tool, created by Chini's team, enables viewers to fully explore the galaxy by using a powerful zoom to showcase various parts of the Milky Way. At an unprecedented 46 billion pixels, the image was composed of data gathered during half a decade of research, and combines 268 views of the galaxy captured nightly by telescopes in the Atacama Desert (Chile). Over 50,000 new variable objects were discovered during that time, and all of them can now be explored online.
