Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Microsoft Launches WorldWide Telescope

Posted by kdawson on from the godspeed-jim-gray dept.

esocid writes "WorldWide Telescope, developed by Microsoft's research arm, knits together images from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Center, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and others. Windows users (only) can browse through the galaxy on their own or take guided tours of different outer-space destinations developed by astronomers and academics. The application allows viewing from different wavelengths such as X-ray, visible light, and hydrogen-alpha radiation. Business Week has a review and some background on the project, which has been in development for years. Google Sky beat them to the punch but Business Week opines that WWT's interface is superior."

3 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. BBC review by kernowyon · · Score: 5, Informative
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7397811.stm which also mentions that you CAN run the Worldwide Telescope on a Mac.... as long as you run Windows on your Mac!
    They quote Bill Gates who said he was hoping the project would -

    "inspire young people to explore astronomy and science"
    Presumably also requiring Windows is a mere co-incidence!
    At least the Beeb article has the decency to mention the Open Source project Stellarium http://sourceforge.net/projects/stellarium/
    --
    Awful UID - but I have been here ages...
    1. Re:BBC review by griffjon · · Score: 3, Informative

      And, don't forget Celestia, which has a great UI and lets you fly around the universe very nicely!

      --
      Returned Peace Corps IT Volunteer
  2. Re:Not nearly that good... by Liquidrage · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yes, it's ASCOM compliant so it does allow mount control. As far as "really" as good. My initial impression is yes. I like it better. Easier to use. Tons of information. The interface is pretty smooth. I went after Eta Carinae first thing. Search went easy. I had several different images to flip through on the "zoomed in" detail view. Several options for research. Even the wiki link for that page. And, "drumroll" when I went to the wiki page for it, it respected FF as my default browser and used that for the browser. So far my initial impressions are very high. But I won't know for sure if it'll replace Starry Night for me until I get a viewing session outside with it.