The National Museum of the United States Air Force put more of its incredible aircraft on display, like the hypersonic X15, when it opened its fourth hangar last summer. While you may not have a trip to Dayton, Ohio, planned anytime soon, you’ll still be able to enjoy this museum from behind your computer screen thanks to some incredible imaging technology.
The Airforce museum created a 190-degree gigapixel image (above) by taking 115 individual shots and stitching them together. A gigapixel, or 1,030 megapixels (about 86 times that of an iPhone), offers stunning resolution and allows users to zoom into objects without substantial visual noise or smudging of details.
The panorama shot was taken using an automated rotating camera mount made by Gigapan. The machine just needs the boundaries of the image before it focuses through a series of shots and stitches them together into one insanely detailed photo.
Using super-high resolution sensors to achieve substantial digital zoom isn’t a new thing. Nokia even released a 41MP smartphone, the 808 Pureview, which uses a similar concept.
If you enjoyed this sneak-peek of American military history and want to get a closer view of the action, feel free to click on over to the museum’s official website for 360-degree views from inside the cockpit of these historic machines.