40 Million Stars Mapped in New Night Sky Census Astronomers are mapping more than 40 million stars in the sky, recording the brightness and location of many faint stars that will be catalogued accurately for the first time, researchers say. The stars are being charted as part of the American Association of Variable Star Observers Photometric All-Sky Survey (APASS), which is scanning the sky at a level 100 times fainter than any previous star-mapping expedition. “Prior surveys have done a good job measuring the brightness of bright stars,” Arne Henden, director of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), said in a statement. “Other organizations have announced plans to measure faint stars. But this goldilocks zone of stars that are neither too bright or too faint has been neglected, until now.”

40 Million Stars Mapped in New Night Sky Census

Astronomers are mapping more than 40 million stars in the sky, recording the brightness and location of many faint stars that will be catalogued accurately for the first time, researchers say.

The stars are being charted as part of the American Association of Variable Star Observers Photometric All-Sky Survey (APASS), which is scanning the sky at a level 100 times fainter than any previous star-mapping expedition.

“Prior surveys have done a good job measuring the brightness of bright stars,” Arne Henden, director of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), said in a statement. “Other organizations have announced plans to measure faint stars. But this goldilocks zone of stars that are neither too bright or too faint has been neglected, until now.”