sourced
Documentary data
An observation-derived image or map whose instrument, filters and processing should be disclosed.
Flagship system · Representation Gallery
Representation
A galaxy image can be scientifically trustworthy and still be processed, mapped, composited or reconstructed. The key is not “processed vs real”; it is whether the representation pipeline is visible.
sourced
Mapped color
Colors can encode wavelengths or intensities outside ordinary human vision; mapped color is still evidence when the mapping is explicit.
interpretive
Reconstruction
A model or artist/diagrammatic reconstruction can explain geometry that cannot be photographed from the desired viewpoint, but must be labeled as such.
sourced
Mosaic
Multiple pointings or exposures may be assembled into one larger view. The result is documentary data plus a stitching/processing pipeline.
interpretive
Annotated diagram
Labels, arrows and overlays add interpretive structure to an observation; the annotation layer is not itself the observed object.
interpretive
Teaching schematic
A simplified authored model can clarify scale or morphology while intentionally omitting real complexity.
Hubble vs Webb
NASA’s NGC 1300 comparison explains that visible and infrared views emphasize dust and starlight differently because wavelength changes what is absorbed or emitted.
Milky Way whole-galaxy views
We are inside the Milky Way disk. A face-on whole-galaxy visual therefore requires reconstruction rather than an external camera viewpoint.
This release’s media policy
No documentary galaxy image bytes are copied into Galaxy Universe. The three local SVGs are original ICU teaching schematics with explicit non-documentary labels.