New way to explore the sky
Posted by Jacque on May 13th, 2008
Microsoft has released visualization software called WorldWide Telescope (WWT), that “enables your computer to function as a virtual telescope—bringing together imagery from the best ground and space-based telescopes in the world for a seamless exploration of the universe.”
It is primarily an educational tool. You see the same images that scientists at NASA use for their research or perform your own research with those images. You can see the Earth from the same perspective that astronauts see as they descend to Earth.
“WWT is a single rich application portal that blends terabytes of images, information, and stories from multiple sources over the Internet into a seamless, immersive, rich media experience. Kids of all ages will feel empowered to explore and understand the universe with its simple and powerful user interface.”
Once you have downloaded the software — which only runs on Windows XP or Vista (on both PCs and Macs), you can search the large database for existing images and tours created by experts, or use the images to create your own slide-based show.
It will be interesting to see how WWT competes Google Sky which is viewable in Google Earth or in a standard web browser.
Here are the download instructions and specs for PCs or Macs. Once you have downloaded the software, take a tour.
The Website also includes instructions on how you can create your own slide-based tour.