A stunning panorama of our galaxy - 4 billion pixels

NASA has released an interactive photo of our Milky Way galaxy. The interactive mosaic consists of more than two 800,000 infrared images taken by the Spitzer telescope since 2003.
The created panorama is the most high-quality and accurate photograph of our galaxy, made during the entire study. NASA officials estimated that a piece of paper the size of a stadium would be needed to print the image.
According to experts, this image covers only 3 percent of the night sky. However, due to the fact that the Milky Way is shaped like a flat spiral disk, these three percent fit more than half of all stars in our galaxy. The Spitzer telescope was launched by NASA in 2003 and carried out its primary mission until May 2009, when it ran out of refrigerant. However, some of the devices still work.


Source: brainswork.ru