Fantastic image of the central Milky Way

[keg in kc]

9 gigapixel image featuring more than 84 million stars. Amazing thing is that this picture, which would be 30 feet by 23 feet if printed at typical book resolution, covers less than 1% of the sky...

http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1242a/zoomable/

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[AussieChiefsFan]

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRAu2nNTe_99cJP9KL2mbuwqEglDN35epujnOZOm-7fU3paBYgMSYN_ykwB

[keg in kc]

Article on it, neglected to link earlier: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2222384/The-Milky-Way-youve-seen-New-pictures-GIGAPIXEL-camera-reveal-galaxy-unprecedented-detail.html

[FAX]

That is truly awesome and amazing. And ours is only one galaxy out of potentially billions of billions or more. It makes me wish I were a starship captain.

It's strange to me that the universe is so unfathomably large compared to us. I mean, it doesn't have to be. It could be much smaller and we could still exist just as we are. Yet, we don't even know for sure if there is a boundary to the universe. We could live in a universe that was only ... say ... the size of a few solar systems. But, instead, we get a really big one to think about.

I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I guess I'm just going to have to accept it.

FAX

[keg in kc]

It's nigh on impossible to even grasp just how large it is...

(that's what she said!)

[FAX]

Did you notice that one group of stars just left of center that forms either a question mark or an ankh symbol?

I should like to investigate that place. Looks pretty suspicious.

FAX

[FAX]

There's also a very strange object type thing located top/right. It appears to be an object in motion or something that is emitting an enormous amount of gas. I think I shall call it Romeo 1.

FAX

[kcfanintitanhell]

Loved the first Men in Black movie when the dying alien said "The galaxy is on Orion's belt", or something like that, and they immediately thought in terms of something in the sky, rather than a small vial on a collar around a cat's neck.

[007]

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRAu2nNTe_99cJP9KL2mbuwqEglDN35epujnOZOm-7fU3paBYgMSYN_ykwB

GIF fail. :)

[AussieChiefsFan]

GIF fail. :)

Yea I can't be bothered fixing it. Plus Im on my phone lol

[Dave Lane]

Repost but a most worthy one, plus it was a year ago or so. I know the kid that did this, kid is driven and a good guy.

This is what the majority of my life has been the last year or so. Its frikken unbelievable what's up there. I've seen things...

Love love this stuff.

[Dave Lane]

Be sure to zoom all the way in. Look at all those stars, you know there is life out there somewhere looking back at the distant twinkle that is us.

[FAX]

Be sure to zoom all the way in. Look at all those stars, you know there is life out there somewhere looking back at the distant twinkle that is us.

I waved.

FAX

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

I just wonder if Aliens have to jerk off thier livestock ? Or is that some crap that we just came up with.