Astronomers at Johns Hopkins University have produced a new map of the universe that spans the entire known cosmos with unprecedented accuracy.

To create the map, which depicts the position and real colours of 200,000 galaxies, the researchers mined some two decades’ worth of data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey located in New Mexico, US.

Each dot on the map is a galaxy, which contains billions of stars and planets, with the Milky Way being one of these dots at the bottom of the map.

The top of the map, meanwhile, reveals the first flash of radiation emitted soon after the Big Bang, some 13.7 billion years ago.

“From this speck at the bottom, we are able to map out galaxies across the entire universe, and that says something about the power of science,” says Johns Hopkins astronomer Brice Ménard.

The interactive map is available online and can be downloaded free.