SUPER VISION

Modern astronomy lets us image and look at the skies in much more detail than ever before. Telescopes like the ROSAT, the Fermi Telescope, and the Planck Telescope have allowed us to see the universe in many different lights.

Now, a new astronomical survey reveals the heavens under a different spectrum — radio waves. The GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky MWA (GLEAM) shows what 300,000 galaxies look like if we could see radio waves.

Humans can only see everything under visible light. But any physics student can tell you visible light is but one of many spectrums of light out there. Humans can also see with only three primary colors, while the GLEAM survey imaged galaxies with 20 primary colors.

The GLEAM survey used data from the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), a radio telescope in the Australian outback. While previous observations have imaged parts of the sky using radio waves, this is the most comprehensive one yet.

Below are remarkable photos of the Milky Way galaxy in all its glory via different lenses.

The visible light spectrum. Image Credit: Gleamoscope/Nick Risinger/skysurvey.org

 

Shorter X-ray light. Image Credit: Gleamoscope/ROSAT Telescope

 

The shortest wavelength — gamma rays. Image Credit: Gleamoscope/Fermi Telescope

 

The longer infrared wavelength. Image Credit: Gleamoscope/IRAS/NASA

 

The even longer microwave wavelength. Image Credit: Gleamoscope/ESA/Planck Telescope

 

And finally, radio waves. Image Credit: Gleamoscope/GLEAM

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