18 Space Maps That Made Us Say ‘Whoa’
As Douglas Adams once wrote: "Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space."
It follows that space is full of fascinating worlds, landscapes, and mysteries that have stirred the imagination for thousands of years. And, of course, our understanding of space is constantly evolving. Some means of visualizing the wonders of space are highly detailed and accurate; others abstract and aesthetic; others archaic and obsolete yet beautiful; still others, just plain peculiar. Here are some space maps that made us look at the Final Frontier in a new way.
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A Diagram Of Relative Planet And Star Sizes
It's very hard to get our minds around the vast size differences of celestial bodies, but this handy graphic helps. The largest object in each section is also the smallest in the next one. This way we can scale up from the relatively tiny planet Mercury to the inconceivably immense red supergiant star, VY Canis Majoris. In fact, VY Canis Majoris is so massive that it's sometimes called a "red hypergiant."
Eye opening? - 2
Our Region Of The Milky Way Galaxy
This image conceptualizes a bird's-eye (starship's-eye?) view of part of the Milky Way Galaxy, showing several of its spiral arms. The yellow circle toward the bottom is the position of the Sun, while the yellow blob at the upper left is the dense region near the galactic center.
Eye opening? - 3
Galileo's Sketches Of The Moon
Galileo was one of the first to make drawings of the lunar surface as seen with something more powerful than the naked eye. (He was preceded by a few months by the Englishman Thomas Harriot.) His illustrations, published in Sidereus Nuncius (1610), survive - moving testaments to a time when our understanding of the universe, and our place in it, was in the midst of being blown wide open.
Eye opening? - 4
Topographic Map Of Mercury
Mercury, the innermost planet in our solar system, doesn't get as much love as Venus or Mars, but it has its own intriguing qualities. This first-ever complete topographic map of Mercury was assembled by the United States Geological Survey from spacecraft data, including that acquired by the NASA MESSENGER probe, which orbited the planet between 2011 and 2015.
Eye opening? - 5
The Solar System's Solid Surfaces, Stitched Together
Looked at this way, the solar system doesn't seem so intimidating. Of course, if you added the gaseous/liquid surfaces of planets like Jupiter and Saturn, this image would be completely dwarfed.
Eye opening? - 6
Unified Geologic Map Of The Moon
Decades in the making, this map of the moon, the most detailed yet created, combines Apollo-era data with modern satellite imagery. Not only is the map impressive from the standpoint of pure science, it could also prove useful in planning future lunar exploration missions. Click here to see a large-size version.
Eye opening?
