Look at an image below, and at a glance, it looks like something digital artist has created. There is a realistic image of the galaxy created by a Finnish astrophotographer named JP Metsavanio. An image of the galaxy is 1.7 gigapixels and what you see below is just a fraction of it.
The full image can be seen here, and it’s worth a look. For why it took a decade to create this image, the digital artist says that the size of the mosaic and it contributes very deep. Since the part of the sky he photographed was so vast, most of it was shot as an individual frame composition and previously published as an independent artwork.
Metsavenio also said that some of the galaxy’s objects needed more contact than others because it looked dim and was difficult to see. One example he gives is the only supernova remnant that took about 60 exposures of time. The galaxy contains some incredible images of various celestial bodies, including the California Nebula, the Pelican Nebula, and the Wizard Nehubla.
It is surprisingly impressive that a photographer with the tools available to most people can take such incredibly detailed images. Metsavanio has a website where it shows some personal images in a wide overall composition.
Some images show individual shots and panels that were used to create a larger image. The finished panel is so detailed it looks like NASA took something like that using the Hubble Space Telescope.
