Scientists estimate that the universe is approximately 13.8 billion years old – and in that time it’s been populated by billions of galaxies – most of them presenting uncharted territory.
Using NASA’s Logarithmic Maps of the Universe, and images of the universe from NASA and Princeton, artist Pablo Carlos Budassi created a disc based on a solar system-centric view of the universe. This means planet Earth, along with surrounding planets and our sun, are in the middle, and the rest of the universe flows out around them.
Each axes of the disc presents different field views – each increasing by a factor of ten. This provides a simple way to visualize something as colossal as the observable universe, and fit it neatly in the circle.
Picture: Pablo Carlos Budassi/Wiki Commons
The ring closest to the sun is the Milky Way galaxy, and the two spirals that come out of the Milky Way represent the Perseus arm.
A vertical logarithmic scale of the universe. Pablo Carlos Budassi/Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Other galaxies are also rendered, as is microwave background radiation.
This is enclosed in a ring of plasma – akin to the corneal limbus ring around the human eye – leftover from the Big Bang.
Source: amazingastronomy.thespaceacademy.org
