posted on Sep, 30 2014 @ 05:12 AM
a reply to:
BerenstEiner
Well, that depends on which pictures you are talking about.
Pictures can be taken of a decent percentage of the Milky Way from the surface of Earth, because of how far from the Galactic centre our solar system
is. Our solar system is located on a spiral arm, quite close (in cosmological terms) to the edge of the galaxy, which means that when we point a nifty
camera at the centre of the galaxy, in the right atmospheric circumstances, we can get a fairly comprehensive image.
D
But the methods by which we develop computerised images of the entire galaxy at once, are many and varied. Using data from satellites,
radioteloscopy, and others, we can combine data sets to infer the presence of certain materials and objects, and create images to depict them as a
part of the wider galaxy.