Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Galaxy Map

Galaxy Map

@galaxymap.bsky.social

490 followers 280 following 860 posts

The first accurate and detailed maps of the Milky Way and ways to promote and visualize them (including VR). Website: https://kevinjardine.dev Tip jar: https://tiptopjar.com/kevinjardine Also follow me on @[email protected]

kevinjardine.dev

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 15h

My Star Central VR world is starting to come together.

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 1d

This article baffles me. If banks want more European tech investment, why don't they pay for it? From my point of view, the European tech sector is starved for cash compared to the US tech sector.

nltimes.nl/2025/10/20/d...

Dutch regulators urge Europe to build its own tech sector amid rising geopolitical risks

The financial sector is becoming increasingly dependent on IT service providers outside Europe. This poses significant risks in the current “harsh geopolitical climate,” warn De Nederlandsche Bank (DN...

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 1d

My Star Style VR clothing shop is coming together. Will launch as part of my new Star Central VR world at the end of the month.

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 1d

Nevertheless I'm constantly surprised that there is so little understanding of the significance of the Gaia mission among non-astronomers. The Gaia mission is the most ambitious mapping endeavor since the European discovery of the new world. It has completely rewritten our view of the Milky Way.

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 1d

We've only had data of sufficient accuracy to be able to create such maps within the last 7 years or so. So this is very new.

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 1d

I have tried to interest terrestrial cartographers in my maps in the past but without success. Perhaps because the concept of galactic cartography is unfamiliar to them?

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 1d

I have uploaded a version of this map to my VR Star Style clothing store. It is, sadly, likely to end up a little too pixilated when actually worn with current Quest headsets but one day ...

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 1d

One day I hope that smart school kids will know the names of all these stars much like they know the names of dinosaurs today.

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 1d

This has the 14 brightest primaries within 10 parsecs plus the Sun and Keid. The Keid system makes the cut because its hot white dwarf ionizes a large region of space. Plus it is the home system of the Vulcans. Hi Spock!

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 1d

Label fix.

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 1d

And here is a simplified map of the closest stars. Still working on this one.

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 1d

Galaxies have a kind of "terrain" and as you can see in my map, most of that terrain is made out of dust. This is where star formation regions are born.

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 1d

A lot of people think that our galaxy is just made of stars, which is a bit like thinking that New York City is just made of street lights. There are much bigger structures in a galaxy.

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 1d

One of the things that I've learned over the years is to work to create simple versions of my maps. Here is one out to 500 pc that I use as part of a star show in my new VR world launching at the end of the month.

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 1d

Changed the border to yellow to be similar to my other maps.

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 2d

I have two versions of this. One that labels only the 60 or so brightest primaries and the other one that labels all of them.

They are both linked here:

gruze.org/10pc/resourc...

The 10 parsec sample in the Gaia era

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 2d

The trouble is that astronomers don't agree on what "confirmed" means. The word as used for exoplanets is misleading I think. But I can take a look. Do you see missing exoplanets?

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 2d

Gearing up for the launch of my Star Style VR clothing shop. I never thought that I would be selling space suits online.

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 3d

These are sometimes called "satellite galaxies". However, so far as I know, none of these have stable orbits and they are all being torn apart by the Milky Way's gravity. They are more food than satellites.

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 3d

Also working on a simple walkable map of the outer halo (out to 100K pc). Here are the dwarf galaxies.

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 3d

Also - a bit of caution. This visualization of hydrogen ionization is still a work in progress. It doesn't quite match up with Earth-based hydrogen alpha data, for example.

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 3d

Fixed version.

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 3d

On Mastodon someone pointed out that comets only develop tails when they get close to the Sun and the bodies in the Oort cloud are simply icy bodies without tails. So something I can fix.

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 3d

Improved the font size to make it readable.

Galaxy Map @galaxymap.bsky.social · 3d

I'm not all that familiar with the solar system so I'd like some feedback. What do you think?

These are logarithmic distances. In reality, the rocky planets are far closer to the Sun than the Oort cloud.