A Highly Detailed Map of the Observable Universe

The scale of the universe is so vast, it’s almost impossible to comprehend, much less illustrate. But Pablo Carlos Budassi, a South American artist, encapsulates the entire observable universe in a single image.

He visualizes the universe as a kind of giant eye, with our solar system at its center. It’s a logarithmic map, meaning that objects in the center are much larger in scale than objects at the periphery—which explains why our Sun looks comparable in size to some galaxies.

Let’s look a little closer.

Budassi used logarithmic maps of the universe created at Princeton University and combined them with NASA images. His map rings our solar system with the icy reaches of the Oort Cloud, our neighbor the Alpha Centauri system, the Andromeda Galaxy, and more. As you get toward the edge of the circle, the map visualizes the cosmic web connecting galaxies, and cosmic microwave background radiation, a relic of the Big Bang that still permeates the universe. 

[h/t: IFLScience]