1. An apparatus for generating a panoramic image, comprising: a mapping unit to project a previously captured image and a currently captured image onto a predetermined curved surface so as to form a first mapping image and a second mapping image, respectively; a calculation unit to calculate movement values in predetermined directions for maximizing a color similarity between overlapped sections of the first and second mapping images; and an image aligning unit to generate a panoramic image using the first and second mapping images and the calculated movement values.