What is WorldWide Telescope?WorldWide Telescope allows you to explore real images obtained from some of the world’s most advanced telescopes. These are the same images that professional astronomers use in their research.WorldWide Telescope can show many layers and types of data. A layer is an object or a dataset that can be placed into your viewing window. There are many types of layers you can create, such as importing 3D objects, or displaying aurora evolution over time overlaid on the high latitudes of the Earth. This tutorial will demonstrate how to create a layer that displays the traverse trail of the Curiosity rover on Mars within Gale Crater towards Aeolis Mons (Mt Sharp).App can read Web Mapping Service (WMS) data from various data services. WMS data are served by various sources, and often show time-varying map overlays which can be displayed on the Earth or planets.
In the example below, we will add a time-sequence of WMS maps showing wild fires in Yellowstone, but a similar process would be used to add other mapping data for other planets.The timeline editor gives you true cinematic control for optimal animations and transitions. You can display highly detailed models of the International Space Station and the Gemini Observatory, or import your own 3D models, deeply detailed Mars imagery from the HiRISE Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter or control atmospheric and lighting to visualize Earth and other planets more realistically. Tilt and rotate controls let you explore planet surfaces in Solar System mode.You can also print 3D terrains from Solar System bodies from WorldWide Telescope. This could be done to create a 3d model of mountains, canyons or other terrain.
Currently 3D surface data is available for the Earth, the Moon and Mars. You can select a region and then use WorldWide Telescope to create a file for printing in the Standard Tessellation Language (STL) format.
May 13, 2008 Microsoft took the wraps off its much-anticipated program today. This rich web application merges imagery from the world's best ground- and space-based observatories into a detailed desktop cosmos.
The platform also gives scientists and educators a tool for teaching astronomy and the process of scientific discovery. With WorldWide Telescope, users pan left, right, up, down, back, and forward seamlessly — down to the full resolution of the available data. Users can view the stars and planets at any time and date from any point on Earth, explore the sky in dozens of different wavelengths, zoom into images by the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, or see Mars from the Opportunity rover's point of view. Game meets universe 'Users can see the X-ray view of the sky, zoom into bright radiation clouds and then cross fade into the visible light view and discover the cloud remnants of a supernova explosion from a thousand years ago,' says Roy Gould, a researcher at the Harvard Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 'I believe this new creation from Microsoft will have a profound impact on the way we view the universe.' WorldWide Telescope 'unleashes the power of a game engine on astronomy,' says Johns Hopkins University astronomer Alex Szalay.
Users can control their own experience or download guided tours highlighting specific astronomical objects. Tours can include narration, music, text, and graphics that create compelling, interactive learning experiences. Users can create and share their own tours as part of the program's communities feature.
Worldwide Telescope User Guide
'With WorldWide Telescope,' says David J. Eicher, editor of Astronomy, 'cloudy nights, light pollution, and freezing temperatures fall away to an anytime view of the universe in the best personal planetarium ever made.' The application is a blend of software and web services created with what Microsoft calls its high-performance Visual Experience Engine, which allows rapid navigation through rich image environments.
Worldwide Telescope Download
WorldWide Telescope stitches together terabytes of high-resolution sky photos. Astronomical roots The project began when Szalay and Jim Gray at Microsoft Research began exploring how to make the terabytes of data captured as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey available over the web. One aspect of this work was recognition that astronomers needed a uniform system to easily access all of the world's astronomical data. WorldWide Telescope draws on this system, called the, for the data it displays.
Microsoft Research formed close ties with members of the academic, education, and scientific communities to make the project a reality. The WorldWide Telescope team to host one of the project's first online communities. ' Astronomy magazine has a rich tradition of making astronomy easy to understand,' says Curtis Wong, manager of Microsoft's Next Media Research Group.