Stunning New Map of the Milky Way Shows 800 Million Stars, Galaxies and Near-Earth Asteroids

milky way map — This map of the cosmos shows roughly 800 million stars in the neighborhood of the Milky Way. It compiles four years' worth of data from the Pan-STARRS observatory in Maui, Hawaii.

(Image credit: R. White (STScI) and the PS1 Science Consortium)

At first, it looks like a planet: dark, snow-speckled and slashed down the center by a deep red scar. But zoom in a little closer, and you realize you're looking at something much larger than a planet — larger even than 100 billion planets.

This is a new map of the cosmos, compiled from four years of observations by the Pan-STARRS observatory in Maui, Hawaii. Hidden within this mosaic image of the Milky Way (that's the big, red smear in the middle) and its near cosmic neighborhood are more than 800 million stars, galaxies and roving interstellar objects visible from the observatory's mountaintop vantage point. [11 Fascinating Facts About Our Milky Way Galaxy]

Of course, it's not the entire universe on display here — just the vast vault of sky visible over Hawaii, centered on the North Star, Polaris. A chunk of the Milky Way galaxy slices through the middle of the image, growing brighter near the bottom of the frame where the galaxy's black hole-powered center smolders in the night. Thick clouds of interstellar dust, which absorb blue light and appear to glow red, puddle along the galaxy's length.

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Brandon is the space / physics editor at Live Science. With more than 20 years of editorial experience, his writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Reader's Digest, CBS.com, the Richard Dawkins Foundation website and other outlets. He holds a bachelor's degree in creative writing from the University of Arizona, with minors in journalism and media arts. His interests include black holes, asteroids and comets, and the search for extraterrestrial life.