The Finnish astrophotographer spends 1,000 hours in 12 years creating a mosaic of the Milky Way

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Written by By Eoin McSweeney, CNN

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

But Finnish astrophotographer JP Metsavainio has spent nearly 12 years stitching together 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 March 16.

“Astronomical photography is one of the most difficult forms of nature photography,” Metsavainio, a professional artist, told CNN Friday. “My mosaic image is generally very deep, which means it shows extremely dark targets and formations in gas clouds of our own galaxy, the Milky Way.”

Each image in the mosaic is an independent work of art and can be viewed on Metsavainio’s blog. He claims an image like this never existed before, which is one of the reasons he decided to devote thousands of hours to the project.
A clear, dark sky, far from the light pollution of cities, is essential for astrophotography, the photography of astronomical objects, an activity that takes place worldwide. Patience is also key as it can take hours or even days to take just one photo with a long exposure.

Metsavainio used a series of modified camera lenses and telescopes at his observatory in Northern Finland, near the Arctic Circle. He first uses image processing software to adjust levels and color before stitching the individual panels together in Adobe PhotoShop, using stars as indicators to match the appropriate frames.

JP Metsavainio

JP Metsavainio, the Finnish astrophotographer who created the stunning mosaic of the Milky Way. Credit: Studio Timo Heikkala Oy

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

His blog has attracted 750,000 visitors since the photo was published, against an average of about 1,000 per day.

“In fact, the reason I keep doing my slow work is endless curiosity. I love to see and show how wonderful our world really is,” he told CNN. “This is lonely and slow work, but every time I see the results I’m just as excited as the first time.”

Another photo of the Sharpless 132 nebula which is a small part of JP Metsavainio's Milky Way mosaic

Another photo of the Sharpless 132 nebula which is a small part of JP Metsavainio’s Milky Way mosaic Credit: Credit to JP Metsavainio

Along with Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May, Metsavainio took part in a live virtual broadcast in September hosted by the Science Museum of London. At the time, he published a 3D book on cosmic clouds with the musician and Astronomy Magazine editor David J Eicher.

A dedicated lover of the night sky, Metsavainio plans to continue his work, but with a different lens.

“I’ve been photographing the night sky for the past few years using relatively short focal length optics,” said Metsavainio. “In the future, I will go back to an instrument with a longer focal length.”

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