A new, detailed map of our Milky Way galaxy

Witness a high-resolution view of the Galactic Plane, captured by the APEX telescope in Chile. This video reveals the intricate structures of our galaxy using submillimetre wavelengths.

The video showcases the completion of the ATLASGAL survey, which has mapped the entire Galactic Plane visible from the southern hemisphere. Using the APematic APEX telescope, researchers captured data at 0.87 millimetres, providing finer detail than previous space-based surveys.

The imagery integrates multiple layers of light: red structures represent the 0.87 millimetre APEX data, while a blue background shows shorter infrared wavelengths from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope GLIMPSE survey. Fainter, extended red features are contributed by observations from the ESA Planck satellite.

Source: Close look at the ATLASGAL image of the plane of the Milky Way