GALÁCTICA: The largest photo of the Milky Way available on the web

Milky Way North Hemisphere. Credit: J. C. Casado and D. Padrón
Milky Way North Hemisphere. Credit: J. C. Casado and D. Padrón
Advertised on

A digital reflex camera, a telephoto lens, and a night sky renowned worldwide for its quality and darkness. These are the ingredients of GALÁCTICA, an IAC project whose aim is to obtain a gigapan (a giant mosaic) of the Milky Way to be used for outreach. What makes it different from other similar maps of our galaxy is that this is the first time such a map has been produced without relying on the telescopes of large professional observatories.

'Because of the exceptional atmospheric conditions of Teide Observatory, we were able to acquire high quality images,' notes Doctor Miquel Serra Ricart, the project's coordinator, as well as being Manager of the Teide Observatory and an IAC researcher. 'We're still analysing the final mosaic in search of small objects that we haven't yet labelled,' he adds.

For a year, with a digital camera equipped with a telephoto lens, the team obtained the images that make up the final gigapan. The team has also published 50 images at high resolution of the main objects that form part of our galaxy's fauna. Serra and his team are, 'Very enthusiastic about the second part of the project, which take us to the dark skies of Namibia from where we shall complete GALÁCTICA.'

Instrumentation and observing procedure

A DSLR full-frame camera (a modified SONY A7S) equipped with a fast telephoto lens (Canon 200 mm f/1.8)was used to build up the panorama. A second camera, a modified SONY A7S (with a 400 mm f/2.8 telephoto lens) was used at the same time to make high resolution observations of 50 objects that form part of the galactic fauna catalogue.

The two cameras mounted in tracking mode on the Open Outreach Telescope (Telescopio Abierto Divulgación, TAD). This robotic telescope is equipped with a Losmany Titan equatorial mount to compensate for motion caused by the Earth's rotation and is located at Teide Observatory (Izaña, Tenerife).

A total of seven months was dedicated to the work, and observations were made only on nights close to new moon. This required 50 nights' observing, in which 186 hours were needed to produce the panoramic view and 50 hours for galactic fauna objects. The images acquired so far cover 70% of the Milky Way, from the molecular cloud complex of Orion to Antares in the constellation Scorpius. During the second half of 2018, the GALACTICA-S project, funded by FECYT, will map the remaining 30% of our galaxy.

The GALÁCTICA project has been funded by the Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología (FECYT) of Spain's Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness.

The IAC Observatories form part of Spain's network of Special Scientific and Technical Infrastructures (Infraestructuras Científicas y Técnicas Singulares, ICTS).

More information:

-GIGAPAN GALÁCTICA http://gigapan.com/gigapans/207272
-Project website http://galactica.astroaula.net
-Galactic fauna (high resolution) https://flic.kr/s/aHskQ9fJzA

Contact:

·         Miquel Serra-Ricart: mserra [at] iac.es (mserra[at]iac[dot]es) y 922 605 750.

News type
Press release
Scope
Observatorios de Canarias
General public
Communications media

It may interest you

  • 2nd LIOM International Workshop
    Press release
    LIOM, the IAC's technological laboratory for finding life beyond the Solar System
    From 14 to 16 February, the second scientific meeting of the Laboratory for Innovation in Opto-Mechanics (LIOM) will be held at the IACTEC building managed by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) in the Science and Technology Park of La Laguna (Tenerife). This project is dedicated to the development of new optical and mechanical technologies that will form part of the next generation of telescopes capable of detecting biomarkers on exoplanets. One year after its creation, the IAC's Laboratory for Innovation in Opto-Mechanics (LIOM), is holding its second international meeting
    Advertised on
  • Neighbours of Garafía together with the staff of the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory during the Open House Days
    Photomontage
    The Roque de los Muchachos Observatory holds a new meeting with its neighbours in Garafía
    Today, Friday 16th August, the traditional Open Day of the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM) was held for the residents of the village of Garafía, in La Palma. With this event, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) participates in the programme of the Fiestas Patronales of the municipality where the Observatory is located. This fraternisation event, between the town and the scientific, technical and working staff who work at the centre's facilities, has been taking place since the first years of its opening and celebrates its 39th edition. The IAC and the scientific
    Advertised on
  • Central region of the old galaxy NGC 1386 where thousands of stars are forming into star clusters
    Press release
    Regions where extremely young stars are forming have been found in very old galaxies
    An international study led by Almudena Prieto, a researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has found places where new stars are forming, as faint star clusters, around the centre of an evolved galaxy. This is the first time that young populations of stars have been picked out and dated in this type of galaxies dominated by very old stars, which can be called “rejuvenated old galaxies”. The research has combined observations from various telescopes, both ground based and space based, and has used innovative techniques of data analysis. The results are published in the
    Advertised on