simple question about our galaxy

How do we get pictures of it?

Being that we have a probe that just barley left our solar system.


Inb4 camera.

originally posted by: BerenstEiner
How do we get pictures of it?

Being that we have a probe that just barley left our solar system.


Inb4 camera.

Telescopes/radio telescopes; The speed of light and radio wavelengths that have been around for possibly billions and billions of years is faster than any kind of probe we may have launched outside of our solar system within the past 50 or so years, be it Ford, anal, or otherwise.

a reply to: BerenstEiner

I'm gonna guess Telescopes, probes and computer simulations.

I wondered about that myself. I don't think we have a real picture of the entire Milkyway galaxy. The ones that you see are fabricated based on the information we have. There are images of it side-on looking toward the center since we are on the outskirts on one of the spiral arms.

Here it is side on:


I suspect the brightness is from the center of the galaxy, and the dark bands are clouds of matter.

It's crazy.. I've seen this with my own eyes many times, but now today, I finally understand what I am looking at. It's pretty wild. Thanks for the post which led me to posting the pics and realizing it.

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Here is another one:


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This image is done in a spectrum that sees through the dark band into the center:

a reply to: BerenstEiner

We're way out on the edge so we can get a picture of most of it' It's like being on the caboose and taking a picture of the rest of the train.

I've wondered the same about the footage of the first lunar landing and the Mars rover.

Naturally, we don't have real pictures (as in a view from the top) of our galaxy. We can estimate the distance and direction of other stars and form a map. We compare that with galaxies we can see and figure we are in a spiral galaxy. Our representations are just our best guess so far. Kind of like making a map of the Earth before we could fly.

cause your suppose to accept anything they tell you.don,t dare question it.

a reply to: BerenstEiner

Well, that depends on which pictures you are talking about.

Pictures can be taken of a decent percentage of the Milky Way from the surface of Earth, because of how far from the Galactic centre our solar system is. Our solar system is located on a spiral arm, quite close (in cosmological terms) to the edge of the galaxy, which means that when we point a nifty camera at the centre of the galaxy, in the right atmospheric circumstances, we can get a fairly comprehensive image.
D
But the methods by which we develop computerised images of the entire galaxy at once, are many and varied. Using data from satellites, radioteloscopy, and others, we can combine data sets to infer the presence of certain materials and objects, and create images to depict them as a part of the wider galaxy.