NASA maps nearest major galaxies in a stunning display

 
Using NASA’s Swift Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope, astronomers and members of NASSA itself have created a truly magnificent view of our neighboring galaxies. You can check out the video above below is more information on just how it was made.
 
As I mentioned before, it was a join effort, the two groups were astronomers at NASA and at Pennsylvania State University and they have created one of the most detailed ultraviolet surveys of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds to date. In the end the group created a 160 megapixel mosaic image, which is comprised of the Large Magellanic Cloud and a 57-megapixel mosaic image of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). What was shown is 1 million ultraviolet light sources in the LMC and some 250,000 in the SMC.
 
“We took thousands of images and assembled them into seamless portraits of the main body of each galaxy, resulting in the highest-resolution surveys of the Magellanic Clouds at ultraviolet wavelengths,” said Stefan Immler, who proposed the program and led NASA’s contribution to the project.
 
“Prior to these images, there were relatively few UV observations of these galaxies, and none at high resolution across such wide areas, so this project fills in a major missing piece of the scientific puzzle,” said Michael Siegel, the lead scientist for Swift’s Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope.
 
You can grab amazing high-res images, including TIFF versions from the official NASA site below.
 
more info: nasa