This Is A Map Of The Entire Universe, Squeezed Into One Mind-Boggling Image
This stunning spherical image manages to cram in the entire universe, including our Solar System at the centre.
The mind-boggling image also packs in the outer planets, Kuiper belt, Oort cloud, Alpha Cetauri star and the cosmic web along with the Milky Way galaxy, Andromeda galaxy and other nearby galaxies.
Created by artist Pablo Carlos Budassi, the jaw-dropping image is based on logarithmic maps of the universe compiled by researchers from Princeton University along with images from NASA’s telescopes and space probes.
Logarithmic maps are used for visualising inconceivably huge areas such as the universe because each step on the axes increases by a factor of 10.
However, they’re not very user-friendly to look at.
Budassi got the idea of fitting the universe maps into one tiny image while making hexaflexagons - paper polygons with many sides - for his son’s birthday.
“When I was drawing hexaflexagons for my son’s birthday souvenirs, I started drawing central views of the cosmos and the Solar System.
”That day the idea of a logarithmic view came, and in the next days I was able to assemble it with Photoshop using images from NASA and some textures created on my own,” Budassi told Tech Insider.
Image: Pablo Carlos Budassi