1 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:07,000 In the framework of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:13,000 ESO has launched a new project aimed at connecting the sky as seen by the unaided eye 3 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,000 with that seen by hobby and professional astronomers. 4 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,000 The project, called GigaGalaxy Zoom, 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:23,000 reveals three amazing, ultra-high-resolution images of the night sky 6 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:29,000 that online stargazers can zoom in on and explore in an incredible level of detail. 7 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:34,000 The reward is the most breathtaking dive ever made into our Galaxy, 8 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:39,000 linking the sky seen by all with the cosmos studied by astronomers. 9 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:45,000 This is the ESOcast! 10 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:50,000 Cutting-edge science and life behind the scenes of ESO, the European Southern Observatory. 11 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:05,000 In today’s ESOcast we will explore the unique and amazing GigaGalaxy Zoom project, 12 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:12,000 which reveals the whole night sky as it appears with the unaided eye from one of the darkest deserts on Earth. 13 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:16,000 The project allows users to zoom in on a rich region of the Milky Way 14 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:21,000 with the magnification offered by a hobby telescope and then to go one step further, 15 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:27,000 using the power of a professional telescope to explore details of an iconic nebula. 16 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:34,000 Most of the photographs comprising the three GigaGalaxy Zoom images were taken from La Silla and Paranal, 17 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:38,000 two of ESO’s observing sites in Chile. 18 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:44,000 The wonderful quality of the images is a testament to the splendour of the night sky at these ESO sites, 19 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:48,000 which are the most productive astronomical observatories in the world. 20 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:54,000 The first image, taken by the renowned French writer and astrophotographer Serge Brunier, 21 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:59,000 aims to present the sky as people have experienced it the world over, 22 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:03,000 though in the far greater detail offered by top-notch stargazing conditions 23 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:06,000 and incorporating the view from both hemispheres. 24 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:10,000 Brunier spent several weeks capturing the sky with a digital camera, 25 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:14,000 mostly from ESO observatories at La Silla and Paranal in Chile. 26 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:21,000 To cover the full arc of the Milky Way, Brunier also made a week-long trip to La Palma, 27 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,000 one of the Canary Islands, to photograph the northern skies. 28 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:31,000 The final image — the result of 120 hours of observations — 29 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:37,000 provides a magnificent 800-million pixel panorama of the whole Milky Way. 30 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:42,000 This 360-degree panoramic image, covering the entire celestial sphere, 31 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:47,000 reveals the cosmic landscape that surrounds our tiny blue planet. 32 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:54,000 The plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, which we see edge-on from our perspective on Earth, 33 00:02:54,000 --> 00:03:00,000 cuts a luminous swath across the image — almost as if we were looking at the Milky Way from the outside. 34 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:23,000 The second image was captured by another renowned astrophotographer named Stéphane Guisard. 35 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:28,000 Stéphane is also the chief optician at the ESO Paranal Observatory, 36 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:35,000 where he is responsible for making sure that the Very Large Telescope has the best possible optical quality. 37 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:43,000 This second image directly benefits from the dark and cloudless sky at Paranal, one of the best observing sites on the planet, 38 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:49,000 and from Stéphane’s professional expertise as an optical engineer specialising in telescopes. 39 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:54,000 To snap a photographic mosaic of the central parts of our galactic home, 40 00:03:54,000 --> 00:04:00,000 Stéphane relied on a 10-centimetre aperture hobby telescope coupled with a CCD camera. 41 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:05,000 The final result produced by Stéphane, together with ESO’s image experts, 42 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:11,000 is a colour image of the Milky Way containing more than 340 million pixels. 43 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:20,000 The image combines about 1200 photos for a total exposure time of at least 250 hours! 44 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:28,000 The resulting image beautifully exhibits the sky, spanning several constellations from Sagittarius to Scorpius, 45 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:34,000 an area that includes the Galactic Centre, the famous Lagoon and Trifid nebulae on the left, 46 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:38,000 and the colourful Antares and Rho Ophiuchus region on the right. 47 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:09,000 The third image of the GigaGalaxy Zoom project illustrates the power of professional astronomy. 48 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:15,000 It covers a one-degree field of view, or about two times the width of the full Moon 49 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:23,000 using the Wide Field Imager attached to the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the ESO La Silla Observatory. 50 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:29,000 This camera has already created several of the most iconic pictures produced by ESO. 51 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:35,000 The professional image is a zoom into the attractive and intriguing Lagoon nebula. 52 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:39,000 Scattered dark patches within this 100 light-year wide nebula 53 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:44,000 are huge clouds of gas and dust collapsing under their own weight. 54 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:48,000 Soon, they will give birth to clusters of young glowing stars. 55 00:05:54,000 --> 00:06:02,000 Together these three stunning images allow for a unique exploration of a magnificently detailed cosmic environment 56 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:06,000 from the scale seen by the unaided eye into the astronomers’ realm. 57 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:12,000 Enjoy this dive into the starry depths of our Milky Way from the Eye to the Telescope! 58 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,000 ESOcast is produced by ESO, the European Southern Observatory. www.eso.org 59 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,000 ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the pre-eminent intergovernmental science and technology organisation in astronomy 60 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,000 designing, constructing and operating the world's most advanced ground-based telescopes. 61 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,000 Transcription by ESO ; translation by —