PIA15482: Mapping the Infrared Universe: The Entire WISE Sky -- Rectangular Format
 Mission:  Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
 Spacecraft:  WISE
 Instrument:  WISE Telescope
 Product Size:  10000 x 5000 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  IPAC-Caltech
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA15482.tif (150 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA15482.jpg (7.365 MB)


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The sky can be thought of as a sphere that surrounds us in three dimensions. To make a map of the sky, astronomers project it into two dimensions. Many different methods can be used to project a spherical surface into a 2-D map. The projection used in this image of the sky is called an "equirectangular." This method projects the sky into a rectangular shape with Cartesian coordinates, this projection is useful for planetariums that may wish to display the image on their domes.


There are some artifacts worth noting in the image. For the image atlas, moving objects such as asteroids and comets were removed. However, some slower moving, bright objects did leave behind residuals. Residuals of the planets Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter are visible in this image as bright red spots off the plane of the Galaxy at the 1:00, 2:00 and 7:00 positions, respectively. In addition, at several locations in the image there are small rectangular shaped features that result from the difficulty in matching background levels of individual atlas frames.

Three of the four wavelengths surveyed by WISE were used to create this image. The colors used in this image represent specific wavelengths of infrared light. Cyan (blue-green) represents light emitted predominantly from stars and galaxies at a wavelength of 3.4 microns. Green and red represent light mostly emitted by dust at 12 and 22 microns, respectively.



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