Seeing beyond the milky way

I've been reading some of the threads here about how the 'sky box' we will see in game will be generated from the stars we can visit, but what about the sources of light from outside our galaxy? As we get to the edges of our disk of stars will we be able to look out and see sights like this?
 
As we get to the edges of our disk of stars will we be able to look out and see sights like this?

Those images are made by gathering like over long exposures and magnification. If you are actually just outside the Milky Way, you'd see a mostly black curtain and the Andromeda galaxy as a small smeared light (more than just a dot, but still tiny).
 
I've been reading some of the threads here about how the 'sky box' we will see in game will be generated from the stars we can visit, but what about the sources of light from outside our galaxy? As we get to the edges of our disk of stars will we be able to look out and see sights like this?

Nope! At least I highly doubt it. Other galaxies are too faint to see with the naked eye. We need long exposure images from telescopes to see them. The Andromeda Galaxy covers about 6 times more sky than the Moon, but you've probably never noticed it.

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Nope! At least I highly doubt it. Other galaxies are too faint to see with the naked eye. We need long exposure images from telescopes to see them. The Andromeda Galaxy covers about 6 times more sky than the Moon, but you've probably never noticed it.

Edit ninja'd!

Does that still hold true in deep space, on the edge of the galaxy with no light pollution from Milky Way stars?
 
If we were just outside the Milky Way you would get a good view, especially of Andromeda. We can't see much from being inside because the view is fogged by all the dust and gasses etc. You would never see galaxies like you do on NASA's images though, not unless you were right next to them.
 
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Does that still hold true in deep space, on the edge of the galaxy with no light pollution from Milky Way stars?

Yes, because our eyes can't take long exposure pictures :). If we looked at the sky via view screens then we would have a better shot, because the ship's computer could do image processing
 
Hmm, I wonder how much of a Cobra a telescope with Hubble quality imaging would take up?

Would it make an interesting possible future addition to the game to have missions to take a telescope / array out somewhere previously unreachable before the recent (in game terms) introduction of frame shift drives? Even if it was just to point it at the procedurally generated Milky Way from new and interesting angles, it could provide some stunning imagery that wouldn't have to be rendered in the game engine in real time.
 
You could probably see the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds as these are satellite galaxies of the Milky Way. Assuming that you are on the correct side of the galaxy to see them that is.
 
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