Embargoed for release after 9:45 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time
Monday, June 8, 1998

First Light: Mosaic

This is a mosaic of a region of the sky 2.5 degrees on a side. Two separate sweeps of the sky were made on successive nights with the 2.5-meter telescope and its mosaic camera. The 6 columns of CCDs in the camera collect data from 6 scanlines on the sky separated by small gaps. By offseting the telescope a small amount between the two runs, the scanlines from the two runs can be interleaved to form a seamless map of a complete section of the sky.

While this image may look small and unimpressive, consider that the width of the previous first light image is about the same as the width of one of those 12 vertical strips.
Image credit: Stephen Kent/SDSS Collaboration

This image is also available as a JPEG (1428 x 1700, 749 KB), as well as a clickable, zoom-in map.

A six-scanline, non-interleaved sweep is available as a GIF (1177 x 758, 679 KB).

Media Contacts