Did you see the largest picture ever taken, released on January 5? The picture has a staggering 1.5 billion pixels, so you’d need 600 HD television screens to display it. It shows the neighboring Andromeda galaxy, closest spiral galaxy to our Milky Way. Now daveachuk on YouTube has created this wonderful fly-through video, showing detail in the gigantic Andromeda pic. Enjoy feeling small! And remember … each one of those white dots? Each one is a sun, much like the sun that powers all life on Earth.
Enjoy the video! And be sure to watch until the end!
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captured the full image, which is made up of 411 Hubble images, takes you through a 100 million stars and travels over more than 40,000 light years. Our thanks to Alex Grossman on G+ for sharing! As he said:
Wow. Just wow.
Bottom line: Fly-through video of the largest image ever taken, of the Andromeda galaxy, nearest spiral galaxy to our Milky Way. Prepare to feel small!
Deborah Byrd
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About the Author:
Our Editor-in-Chief Deborah Byrd works to keep all the astronomy balls in the air between EarthSky's website, YouTube page and social media platforms. She's the primary editor of our popular daily newsletter and a frequent host of EarthSky livestreams. Deborah created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.