The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics has created an unprecedented 3-D map of galaxies that are hundreds of millions of light-years away

In a sense, this is the largest and most complicated map ever: a diagram of the universe mapping galaxies out to 380 million light-years away, both a tremendous feat of science and a tremendous feat of design. Here's The Atlantic Wire's Alex Eichler with more information:

The map, known as the 2MASS Redshift Survey (2MRS), depicts 95 percent of the night sky and is said to be the most complete local map of the universe ever created. Govert Schilling at Science explains that "color codes for distance: purple dots are nearby galaxies; red dots are distant ones." The map took more than a decade to finish, and one of the spearheaders of the project, the astronomer John Huchra, died in October before the work could be finished.

Read the full story at The Atlantic Wire.

Image: Center for Astrophysics