Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey, NASA, National Science Foundation and British Antarctic Survey released a new map of Antarctica.  During a special event hosted at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, researchers were able to view the new images which are said to be much more revealing than anything ever presented before.  

The researchers used the Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica, or LIMA, to combine 1,100 images that now make up one entire image 10 times more detailed than any other Antarctic image ever captured.  The entire content

"This mosaic of images opens up a window to the Antarctic that we just haven't had before," said Robert Bindschadler, the NASA scientist responsible for creating the project.  "This innovation is like watching high-definition TV in living color versus watching the picture on a grainy black-and-white television.  Anyone with a computer and a web connection can now travel to Antarctica."

Indeed, the images are now available to everyone at the United States Geological Survey web site.  Even though Antarctica remains a mystical location that most of us will never be able to visit personally, these images offer a new insight for regular people to see what Antarctica surface looks like in great detail.

Researchers will be able to use the images to better prepare scientific expeditions to Antarctica.