APOD: 2023 July 5 Б A Map of the Observable Universe
Explanation:
What if you could see out to the edge of the
observable universe?
You would see galaxies, galaxies, galaxies, and then, well,
quasars, which are the bright centers of distant
galaxies.
To expand understanding of the very largest scales that humanity can see,
a map of the galaxies and quasars found
by the
Sloan Digital Sky
Survey from 2000 to 2020 -- out to near the
edge of the
observable universe --
has been composed.
Featured here,
one wedge from this survey encompasses about 200,000
galaxies and
quasars out beyond a
look-back time
of 12 billion years and
cosmological redshift 5.
Almost every dot in the nearby lower part of
the illustration represents a
galaxy, with redness indicating increasing
redshift and distance.
Similarly, almost every dot on the upper part represents a distant
quasar,
with blue-shaded dots being closer than red.
Clearly shown among
many discoveries,
gravity between galaxies has caused the nearby universe to
condense and become increasingly
more filamentary than the
distant universe.
More Detailed Maps:
Related to Today's APOD
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
