AN EAGERLY awaited map of the heavens was released last week. The map is the final product of a survey of the infrared radiation emanating from all sections of the sky, revealing millions of stars and galaxies – even those hidden behind the dense, dusty axis of the Milky Way.
The images from the Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2Mass) have been compiled into an “atlas” of the entire sky, incorporating around half a billion objects. About 90 per cent of these are stars, planets and asteroids in the Milky Way, collected in one catalogue. The remaining objects are in neighbouring galaxies,…
