Researchers stared at the sculptor’s Milky Way for 50 hours. These images are dazzling.

Not every day can you see the visual effects of the entire sculptor’s Milky Way, all its ever-changing glory.

Fortunately for us, astronomers used the very large telescope (ESO’s VLT) of the Southern European Observatory in Chile to create a grand visual image of the spiral galaxy, also known as NGC 253. In a new study Astronomy and astrophysicsthe researchers used the multi-unit spectral explorer (MUSE) instrument on the telescope to bravely observe the sculptor’s galaxy for 50 hours. They then merged 100 images into a dazzling map.

ESO researcher Enrico Congiu led the research with Adam Leroy of the University of Heidelberg, Ohio State University, and large researchers from around the world. In a statement, Congiu explained why the 65,000 light-year system is so challenging for astronomers visually, but so attractive.

“The sculptor’s galaxy is at its best,” Kangji said. “It’s close enough to address its internal structure and study its internal structure in incredible details, but at the same time, we can still think of it as a whole system.”

OK, let’s take a look at the good stuff. This is one of the sculptural galaxies images of the research team – undeniably spectacular. “The areas of pink light are spread throughout the Milky Way snapshots, which are from ionized hydrogen in the star-forming areas,” the study image description reads. “These areas have been covered on a map of the stars that the sculptors have formed to create a mixture of pink and blue that is seen here.”

This is another image described by the research team [that] Specific wavelengths of hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur and oxygen are shown. These elements exist throughout the Milky Way as gases, but the mechanisms that cause this gas to glow may vary throughout the Milky Way. The pink light represents the gas stimulated by the radiation of the nascent star, while the white light cone in the center is caused by gas flowing out of the black hole in the core of the Milky Way. ”

Images of the sculptor’s Milky Way were created using images of very large telescopes in the Southern European Observatory.
Credits: ESO/E. Congiu et al.

The sculptor’s Galaxy diagram contains thousands of colors, which the researchers explain, can help astronomers understand the components of the system, called planetary nebula, such as specific areas of dust and gas, and how they move through the Milky Way. With such detailed images, researchers can really get close to even if they observe individual stars. “We can amplify and study individual regions formed by individual stars on the scale of almost individual stars, but we can also amplify the entire galaxy,” Krekel said in a statement.

Why is it important to identify these unique components? “Finding planetary nebula allows us to verify the distance from the Milky Way, which is the key information the rest of the galaxy studies rely on,” Leroy said in a statement.

Another image was also produced in the study, a more distant image of the sculptor’s Milky Way, which the researchers described as “a “color composite” made from the exposure of digital Sky Survey 2 (DSS2). The field of view is approximately 3.7 x 3.6 degrees.”

A color composite made of exposure from Digital Sky Survey 2 (DSS2).
Credits: ESO / Digital Sky Survey 2 / Davide de Martin

Astronomers spent hours observing similar galactic entities, so we were rewarded with such beautiful pictures – Mashable’s scientific team gave you coverage.