APOD 4.8

May 20th, 2011                                           A Journey Through the Night Sky

I found this image to be very fitting for my last APOD post, as it is an image of the entire Milky Way Galaxy and all that it contains.  The 5 gigapixel mosaic was made by combining over 37,000 images of the night sky throughout the year.  Using vivid colors from the different pictures of the night sky, the image was meant to post as a comparison to the brightness of day.  The contents of this great galaxy contains innumerable stars, vast clouds, interstellar matter such as dust and gas, all to faint to see with the naked eye.  This majestic image helps to remind us of the true vastness of our galaxy and how much it actually beholds.