After Milky Way Measured With Radio Waves, Astronomers Hope To Map Galaxy

SOCORRO, NM — Astronomers have measured a span of 66,000 light-years from Earth across the Milky Way's center to a star-forming area near the edge of the other side of the galaxy and researchers hope more points will help them produce a first-of-its-kind map over the next 10 years. Using the Very Long Baseline Array, which is remotely operated near Socorro, astronomers can "accurately map the whole extent of our galaxy," Alberto Sanna, of Germany's Max-Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, said in a news release, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

The astronomers used a collection of radio telescopes spanning thousands of miles — and is remotely operated from central New Mexico. Mark Reid, a senior radio astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who worked on the project, said they hope to create the map by measuring additional points around the galaxy. So far, they have measured around 200.

Reid said 100 or so observations must be done from the Earth's southern hemisphere, so he will be traveling to Australia in the future to use telescopes there.

Although the data for the 66,000 light-year measurement was collected in 2014 and 2015, the team has spent the time since then analyzing it, Reid said. "It's not like you get a Hubble (Space Telescope) space image," he said.

While there are artistic renderings of what the Milky Way probably looks like, this effort will yield a highly accurate image, Reid said.

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