3-D Maps of Nearby Space

May 30, 2003 12:36 PM

3-D Maps of Nearby Space "The first detailed map of space within about 1,000 light years of Earth places the solar system in the middle of a large hole that pierces the plane of the galaxy...The new map, produced by University of California, Berkeley, and French astronomers, alters the reigning view of the solar neighborhood." (one view|another view|links to bigger images)
posted by kirkaracha (5 comments total)

Thanks for these great links.

Related, and also very cool, is Richard Powell's An Atlas of the Universe. He uses the latest astronomical catalogs to create 3D maps of the universe around us at various scales.

All fascinating stuff for us astronomy buffs.
posted by eyebeam at 1:19 PM on May 30, 2003

Eyebeam, thanks for the Atlas of the Universe link. So tell me this, how much of all this do we see in the famous hubble deep field view? It would be interesting to see a map of what we're looking at.
posted by Faze at 1:44 PM on May 30, 2003

Faze, If I recall correctly, the Hubble Deep field is pointing to an area slightly above the handle of the Big Dipper, and to picture how much area it covers, hold a US dime at arm's length - the Hubble Deep Field is as big as FDR's eye on that coin.
posted by kokogiak at 1:51 PM on May 30, 2003

Shouldn't these really be called 2D cross-sections of a 3D representation? I was looking forward to an actual 3D representation.
posted by srboisvert at 1:59 PM on May 30, 2003

[this is very cool]
posted by Joey Michaels at 5:03 PM on May 30, 2003