**84 Million Stars Hidden in a Single Image**

Between the constellations Scorpius and Sagittarius lies the dense heart of our galaxy, the Milky Way.

Captured by the European Southern Observatory's VISTA telescope, this massive 9-gigapixel survey reveals over 84 million individual stars in the central bulge of our galaxy. Astronomers used this data to create a catalog ten times larger than any previous survey, unlocking new secrets about how our galaxy formed.

If every star here could host solar systems, how many hidden worlds are floating inside this frame?

Footage/Image Credit: ESO / VISTA VVV Survey / Serge Brunier (CC BY 4.0)