Look at the image below, and at a glance it might look like something a digital artist has created. This is a real image of the Milky Way, the galaxy we live in, created by a Finnish astrophotographer named JP Metsavainio. The single image of the Milky Way is 1.7 gigapixels and what you see below is only a part of it.
The whole picture can be seen here, and it’s worth a look. Why it took more than ten years to make the image, the digital artist says the size of the mosaic and the fact that it contributed very deeply. Because the sky he photographed is so massive, most of it was shot as individual frame compositions and previously published as independent works of art.
Metsavainio also said that some objects in the Milky Way need more exposure than others because they look duller and harder to see. One example he gives is a single supernova remnant that took 60 hours of exposure. There are incredible images of various celestial objects in the Milky Way, including the California Nebula, Pelican Nebula and Wizard Nebula, among others.
It is incredibly impressive that a photographer with equipment available to most people can take such incredibly detailed photos. Metsavainio has a website where he displays some individual images in the larger overall compositions.
Some of the images show individual shots and panels used to make up the single larger image. The finished panel is so detailed that it looks like something NASA would take with the Hubble Space Telescope.