Photopic Sky Survey lets you explore the night like never before

Nick Risinger traveled 60,000 miles and took 37,440 pictures to create the most wonderful interactive map of the night sky you’ll ever click a mouse on. The 28-year-old Risinger, a native of Seattle, divided the sky into 624 equally spaced … Continue reading →

The full-view picture of the night sky you'll start with when you visit Nick Risinger's Photopic Sky Survey site. From here, you can zoom deep into any part of the sky for spectacular closeup views of clusters, nebulas and other galaxies. Click image to visit the survey. Credit: Nick Risinger
Nick Risinger traveled 60,000 miles and took 37,440 pictures to create the most wonderful interactive map of the night sky you’ll ever click a mouse on. The 28-year-old Risinger, a native of Seattle, divided the sky into 624 equally spaced areas and then photographed each one through six digital cameras, each equipped with a short telephoto lens and color filter. To find skies dark enough to be untainted by the light pollution we’ve become all too familiar with, Risinger set up his gear in remote areas across the Western U.S. For southern hemisphere coverage he flew to South Africa on two occasions. His father joined him ...