Astronomers create best map of the southern sky

The map of the southern sky we've released to the world today is the best ever created, but this is only the beginning of a five-year program to capture it in all its splendour. Astronomers at ANU have created the most comprehensive map of the southern sky that can be viewed online by anyone around the world. The map includes about 70,000 individual images, capturing nearly 300 million stars and galaxies. Lead researcher Dr Christian Wolf from ANU said the map was created using SkyMapper, a 1.3-metre telescope at the ANU Siding Spring Observatory that is creating a full record of the southern sky for astronomers internationally. "The map of the southern sky we've released to the world today is the best ever created, but this is only the beginning of a five-year program to capture it in all its splendour," said Dr Wolf from the ANU Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics. "The final map will show stars and galaxies that are up to 50 times fainter than the limits of this map." SkyMapper's camera has nearly 270 megapixels and the faintest objects visible in the final map will be over one million times fainter than those visible to the naked human eye on a dark night. The map of the southern sky is available through an online portal at < skymapper.anu.edu.au/sky-viewer/ >.