Guided tour

Earth to the edge of the observable universe

A measured scale journey from Earth to the cataloged extragalactic field.

Start this tour in the atlas

1. Earth as the starting scale

   Earth provides the observing baseline. The atlas position is heliocentric and projected onto the ecliptic plane.

2. The planetary neighborhood

   At Solar System scale, planetary distances remain physical. The ruler does not compress empty space.

3. Nearby stellar space

   The Sun becomes one star among measured neighbors. Gaia astrometry supplies positions for the quality-selected stellar layer.

4. Across the Milky Way

   The map shows a top-down physical projection. Source z coordinates are retained even though this view displays x and y.

5. The cataloged observable field

   DESI DR1 galaxies and quasars trace its spectroscopic footprint. Quaia adds a broad quasar-candidate layer with inferred redshifts. Blank regions can reflect selection and footprint, not empty space.