The Finnish astrophotographer spends 1,000 hours over 12 years creating mosaics of the Milky Way

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Written by By Eoin McSweeney, CNN

Capturing panoramas of the Milky Way, the galaxy in which we reside, may seem like a daunting task given that, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, it is about 100,000 light-years in diameter.

But Finnish astrophotographer JP Metsavainio has spent nearly 12 years sewing 234 frames to create a 125-degree sky mosaic. The panorama, which shows 20 million stars, captures the space between the constellations Taurus and Cygnus and was completed on 16 March.

“Astronomical photography is one of the hardest ways to do nature photography,” Metsavainio, a professional artist, told CNN on Friday. “My mosaic image is generally very deep, meaning it shows extremely dark targets and formations in the gas clouds of our home galaxy, the Milky Way.”

Each image in the mosaic is an independent work of art and can be seen on Metsavainio’s blog. He claims that there was never an image like this, which is one of the reasons why he decided to dedicate thousands of hours to the project.
The clear, dark sky, away from the light pollution of cities, is vital for astrophotography, the photography of astronomical objects, an activity that happens all over the world. Patience is also key, as it can take hours or even days to capture just one photo during a long exposure.

Metsavainio used a series of modified camera lenses and telescopes at his observatory in northern Finland, near the Arctic Circle. It first uses image processing software to adjust the levels and color before joining the separate panels in Adobe PhotoShop, using the stars as indicators to match the correct frames.

The astrophotographer said his favorite images are of supernova remnants, a phenomenon that forms after a star explodes. Several of them are visible in its panorama and the Cygnus Shell, a particularly weak supernova remnant that can be seen as a pale blue ring near the North American nebula, took 100 hours to astrophotographer to create it.

His blog has had 750,000 visitors since the photo was posted, compared to an average of about 1,000 a day.

Another photo of the Sharpless 132 nebula that forms a small part of the mosaic of the Milky Way by JP Metsavainio

Another photo of the Sharpless 132 nebula that forms a small part of the mosaic of the Milky Way by JP Metsavainio Credit: Courtesy of JP Metsavainio

“The reason I keep doing my slow work is basically an endless curiosity, I love to see and show how wonderful our world really is,” he told CNN. “It’s a lonely, slow job, but every time I see the results I’m as excited as the first time.”

Along with Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Queen May, Metsavainio took part in a live virtual broadcast in September organized by the Science Museum in London. He was then publishing a 3D book on cosmic clouds with Astronomy magazine musician and editor David J Eicher.

A devoted lover of the night sky, Metsavainio plans to continue his work but with another lens.

“I’ve shot the night sky with relatively short focal length optics over the last few years,” Metsavainio said. “In the future, I will return to a larger focal length instrument.”

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