Thanks to over 2 million images collected by NASA's orbiting Spitzer Space Telescope, University of Wisconsin scientists have been able to put together an epic 360-degree portrait of the Milky Way that showcases new details of our galaxy's structure and its contents.
The Wisconsin astronomers used infrared images, taken over the last decade, to create the holistic portrait, according to a press release issued by the university.
The team unveiled the collage at a TED conference in Vancouver, Canada.
"For the first time, we can actually measure the large-scale structure of the galaxy using stars rather than gas," astronomer Edward Churchwell said, according to the release. "We've established beyond the shadow of a doubt that our galaxy has a large bar structure that extends halfway out to the sun's orbit," he added. "We know more about where the Milky Way's spiral arms are."
Churchwell, a professor of astronomy at Wisconsin, was one of the many researchers that helped put together the infrared imagery.
The venture, which has been called GLIMPSE360, was run up by UW-Madison astronomer Barb Whitney.
Click here to see pictures from the GLIMPSE360 project.
Whitney believes the image will help astronomers for many years to come.
They've already been able to see how the system operates as a whole, and where new stars are coming from, according to the release.
"This gives us some idea of the metabolic rate of our galaxy," Whitney added. "It tells us how many stars are forming each year."
The image will be released to research institutions and astronomers around the world.
See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?
