This 1.7-gigapixel image of the Milky Way took J-P Metsavainio nearly 12 years to create. The Finnish astrophotographer estimates that the exposure time for the photo was 1,250 hours. Wow! Metsavainio started the project way back in 2009, and focused on different areas and objects in the galaxy, as PetaPixel details:
To complete the ultra-high-resolution view of the Milky Way as a whole, Metsavainio then set out to fill in the gaps that weren’t covered by his original artworks.
“I think this is a first image ever showing the Milky Way in this resolution and depth at all three color channels (H-a, S-II, and O-III),” Metsavainio tells PetaPixel.
The photo is 100,000 pixels wide and comprises 234 individual panels stitched together.
Image via PetaPixel