June 26, 2005
Light takes eight minutes to travel from the Sun to the Earth. It took the universe 13.8 billion years to make you.
The 2MASS Galaxy Sky
Birthday · June 26, 2005
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published June 26, 2005. Credit: 2MASS, T. H. Jarrett, J. Carpenter, & R. Hurt. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Are the nearest galaxies distributed randomly? A plot of over one million of the brightest "extended sources" detected by the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) shows that they are not. The vast majority of these infrared extended sources are galaxies. Visible above is an incredible tapestry of structure that provides limits on how the universe formed and evolved. Many galaxies are gravitationally bound together to form clusters, which themselves are loosely bound into superclusters, which in turn are sometimes seen to align over even larger scale structures. In contrast, very bright stars inside our own Milky Way Galaxy cause the vertical blue sash.
Image credit: 2MASS, T. H. Jarrett, J. Carpenter, & R. Hurt