New interactive map of the universe is a rainbow-colored slice of cosmic pie

Astronomers have created a new map of the universe that looks remarkably like a rainbow-colored slice of cosmic pie. The interactive image, which has been named The Map of the Observable Universe(opens in new tab), was released online Nov. 17 and is made of real-color specks of light emitted by more than 200,000 galaxies and quasars — including the Milky Way, which sits at the tip of the slice. However, in reality, the wedge-shaped map only offers a small serving of the observable universe, measuring 90 degrees across and 10 degrees deep from our viewpoint of the sky from Earth.

Astronomers constructed the map using 15 years worth of data collected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which collects images of distant galaxies taken by a single telescope in New Mexico. Normally, this type of data is only accessible to scientists, but the project researchers have designed the map to be easily accessible to anyone.