Embargoed for release after 9:45 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time
Monday, June 8, 1998

First Light Image

A small section of the first-light image obtained by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey on the night of May 27-28, 1998. The overall image is over 5,000 times larger than this small piece of the constellation Serpens. The photo was assembled from digital scans taken through separate filters. (The individual colors provide valuable information for identifying the objects.) It also shows stars in our own galaxy (the brighter ones are recognizable by the cross pattern), a half-dozen distant galaxies near enough to show morphological features like disks and rings, and many fainter and farther galaxies, distinguished from stars by their slightly fuzzy appearance.
Image credit: SDSS Collaboration
Image distributed by: Fermilab Visual Media Services

This image is also available as a 100 dpi JPEG (1000 x 800, 163 KB) and as a 300 dpi JPEG (3000 x 2400, 1173 KB).

Media Contacts