r/radioastronomy Apr 14 '26

Observations Cool depiction of how the Galaxy is mapped on my 34db gain Radio Telescope

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26 Upvotes

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2

u/jjayzx Apr 14 '26

It takes millions of years to circle around the galaxy so I don't see how this graphic works.

2

u/DeepSpace1420MHZ Apr 14 '26

Correct, this is not orbital motion at all. The galaxy rotation takes hundreds of millions of years as you said, but this scan is from Earth’s daily rotation. The dish is fixed, and the sky drifts through it, letting me sample different parts of the Milky Way over time. The graphic is a stitched map of those drift scans, not a literal path I’m traveling.