Microsoft researchers has been developing an interesting astronomy application, now as a public beta, allowing you to see pictures from several observatories. The service is free of charge and uses high-resolution images from the world’s best land- and space-based telescopes.
WorldWide Telescope is a rich, Web 2.0 application allowing people to easily explore the night sky through their computers, a compelling astronomical resource for students and lifelong learners, and as a way to make science fun for children.
“The WorldWide Telescope is a powerful tool for science and education that makes it possible for everyone to explore the universe,” said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft. “By combining terabytes of incredible imagery and data with easy-to-use software for viewing and moving through all that information, the WorldWide Telescope opens the door to new ways to see and experience the wonders of space. Our hope is that it will inspire young people to explore astronomy and science, and help researchers in their quest to better understand the universe.”
WorldWide Telescope allows seamless panning and zooming around the heavens with rich image environments and stitches together terabytes of high-resolution images of celestial bodies and displays them in a way that relates to their actual position in the sky. This way, people can freely browse through the solar system, galaxy and beyond, or take advantage of a growing number of guided tours of the sky hosted by astronomers and educators at major universities and planetariums.
“WorldWide Telescope brings to life a dream that many of us in Microsoft Research have pursued for years, and we are proud to release this as a free service to anyone who wants to explore the universe,” said Curtis Wong, manager of Microsoft’s Next Media Research Group. “Where is Saturn in the sky, in relation to the moon? Does the Milky Way really have a supermassive black hole in the center of the galaxy? With the universe at your fingertips, you can discover the answers for yourself.”
WWT uses images provided by Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Center, the Spitzer Space Telescope and many other observatories. It is possible to view the locations of planets in the night sky in the past, present or future, or the universe through different wavelengths of light to reveal hidden structures in other parts of the galaxy.
Download WorldWide Telescope
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