Worldwide Telescope - Kris Athi (MSP)

Unlock the star gazer in you...

Today, Microsoft Research has released a  cool new application that really is out of this world!

WoldWide Telescope turns your desktop PC into an (almost) fully fledged telescope to help you unlock the star gazer deep inside itching to get out.

Using the extremely intuitive user interface, you are now able to pan, zoom and rotate yourself around the virtual universe made up of “stitched together” detailed photos from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Centre, and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey among others.

To help you on your celestial travels, you have several tools at your disposal. After all, the universe is a pretty big place so it’s easy to get lost

If you find something that you think is really cool, a simple right click on the object will being up the “Finder Scope” to give you more information on what you are looking at. The “Research” option will also give you some external sites to help you discover more about your discovery

The interface also has a really cool options bar across the bottom that continually updates itself with locations to visit. This is updated to show the nearest views to your current location and clicking one will automatically move you to its location and then update the bar all over again.

Looking for something in particular? A host of options are available across the top of the interface include a real time search option. Simply type what you are looking for and the relevant locations will be displayed. Simply click away and off you fly!

If you’re not really feeling in an exploring mood, Let an expert do the work for you! WorldWide Telescope comes with a “Guided Tour” feature that will take you on a tour of our universes greatest sights. These even come with audio commentary from the experts describing what you are currently looking at.

If you really want to dig deep into the world of intergalactic travel, join or set up a community and talk to other like minded individuals about your space discoveries. You can even create your own guided tour and share it with others.

I think you will agree with me that Microsoft has really done a nice job with this project and I really do think this is going to get an amazing reception with the many scientists, students and enthusiasts who take it for a spin!

You can download the client for yourself right now by visiting https://www.worldwidetelescope.org/