Astronomers have unveiled the most detailed infrared map of the Milky Way, thanks to over 200,000 images captured by ESO’s VISTA telescope in Chile. This groundbreaking map offers new insights into hidden parts of our galaxy, revealing areas previously obscured by dust and gas. The VISTA telescope, equipped with the infrared-sensitive VIRCAM, has been used to map vast regions of the sky, allowing scientists to peer through the cosmic dust and uncover parts of the galaxy that are inaccessible to visible light. The detailed map offers a new perspective on the structure of the Milky Way, enriching our understanding of its composition and the processes occurring within it.

Led by astrophysicist Dante Minniti, the project has transformed the way astronomers view the Milky Way. The new map, which contains ten times more objects than the previous version released in 2012, is based on observations from 2010 to 2023. During this time, the VISTA telescope collected data on the movements and brightness changes of objects across 420 nights of observations. The map’s impact has been so profound that it has already contributed to over 300 scientific papers. This wealth of data is expected to fuel further research for years, offering unprecedented access to the inner workings of our galaxy through the ESO Science Portal.