Stellar distribution

Visualising the density of stars usually does not look very impressive (see below).
Another (more complicated) method is to mimick observations by the Hubble Space Telescope, as shown in the pictures of the simulated Milky Way (first two pictures): if the HST could observe our galaxy from far away, it would get a similar picture. Blue dots mark extremely hot and massive stars, red dots resemble old and cold stellar populations.

Please click on each image for a larger version.

	Stellar disk of the Milky Way in the Constrained Simulation of the Local Group (WMAP3), as it might be seen from a Hubble Space Telescope at a different galaxy. Face-on. (A. Khalatyan ; PMViewer ) [png, 1024x1024, 1.6 MB]
	Stellar disk of the Milky Way in the Constrained Simulation of the Local Group (WMAP3), as it might be seen from a Hubble Space Telescope at a different galaxy. Edge-on. (A. Khalatyan ; PMViewer ) [png, 1024x1024, 1.6 MB]
	Projection of the three main halos (MW, M31, M33) along the z-direction. The shown box has a size of 1.3 Mpc/h per side. (G. Yepes) [png, 1574x1154, 22 KB] Versions with dm and gas distribution are available at: dm [png, 1574x1154, 503 KB] gas [png, 1574x1154, 357 KB]