Posted on 07/13/2011 3:50:10 PM PDT by OneVike
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This is a stunning 360 degree panorama of the night sky that was stitched together from 37,000 images by Nick Risinger, a native of Seattle. Nick trekked more than 60,000 miles around the western United States and South Africa to create the largest-ever true-color image of the stellar sphere. The final result is an interactive zoomable sky map showing the Milky Way as it has never been seen before. Including stars, planets, galaxies and the nebulae around it.
"The genesis of this was to educate and enlighten people about the natural beauty that is hidden, but surrounds us," Risinger said.
The project began in March 2010, when Risinger and his brother took a suite of six professional-grade astronomical cameras to the desert in Nevada. By June, Risinger had quit his job as a marketing director for a countertop company to seek the darkest skies he could find.
Night after night he and his father set up the cameras on a tripod that rotates with Earth. They captured the Northern Hemisphere from the darkest corners of Texas, Colorado, Arizona, and California. ; Nick and his father sought out the driest and darkest places so as not to have their images effected by any light. Nick set his cameras up in a way that they would be able to automatically take between 20 and 70 exposures each night in three different-color wavelengths.
While in Texas they could not get a night sky as clear as they wanted and finally decided to go up North. However, when they arrived the temperature was below zero,
"It was January and we were hanging out in Telluride waiting for the weather to clear in Arizona or Texas. "Finally we realized the weather was hopeless down south, but it was perfectly clear where we were." They drove an hour away, set up near a frozen lake, and sat in their car with the heat off for 12 hours as the temperature outside dropped to minus 6 degrees Fahrenheit.
"I would have loved to turn the car on for heat, but I was afraid the exhaust would condense on the equipment and make a shutter freeze or ice up the lenses," Risinger said. "Certainly it was the coldest I've ever been, but I've still got all 10 toes and fingers."
The southern hemisphere was captured in two trips to South Africa, not far from the site of the 11-meter Southern African Large Telescope. While shooting the photos in Africa they were invited to stay at a farmers home, and together they enjoyed the evening as the farmer was an amateur astronomer himself.
Upon finishing, he used a combination of standard and customized astrophotography software to subtract noise from the cameras, stack the three colors on top of each other, link each picture to a spot on the sky and stitch the whole thing together. All this he had to teach himself by using online tutorials.
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Nice site...
Very interesting...Thank you
Wow, thank you. That would make some nice wallpaper. The kind that goes on a wall.
Thanks. And judging by his bio, he’s one of the good guys.
The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard. space(Psalm 19:1-3 NKJV)“Thy heavens, the work of the Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou has ordained…Thou dost make him [man] to rule over the works of Thy hands, Thou has put all things under his feet”space (Psalms 8:3,6 NKJV).
“And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage” space(Deuteronomy 4:19 NKJV).
That is awesome.
Who wants to count the stars for us?
Cool! Thanks
thanks for this...
You would be there awhile.
double click on any portion of the interactive map, and not only will it zoom in, but it will open another window to Wikipedia for a description of that planet or star.
Already posted a couple months ago.
Search is your friend...
=8-)
Amazing interactive true color panoramic sky photo ping.
Thanks for posting this, OneVike!
Welcome SS
OOPs, I meant to thank you.
Oh well.
Something else I miss about inter-continental ocean sailing.
The real sky.
Not just a few of its brightest stars poking down through urban haze and murk, but Vermeers and Rembrandts in all their glory. The sky all hung with jewels, in the words of an English master.
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