Well during the keynote yesterday by Rick Rash of Microsoft Research, an update to the fabulous product called World Wide Telescope was previewed. This update preview codenamed “Autumnal Equinox Beta”, features a 3D-engine that renders our Solar System and the Milky Way in complete 3D.
The World Wide telescope is a project released by Microsoft Research last year in memory of Jim Grey. Here’s a view of Saturn using WorldWide Telescope’s 3D solar system.
Other fabulous features included are:
• Tour animation – text and inserted images can expand, contract, move, spin, fade, etc within a slide.
• WWT can now be localized to your language of choice, for example Chinese.
• Hundreds of new images from the Hubble, Chandra, Spitzer space telescopes
• A new Astrophotography section, with images from renowned astrophotographer Jack Newton.
• New surveys : GALEX in the ultraviolet band, Fermi in the gamma-ray band, as well as sixteen surveys about the Cosmic Microwave Background from the WMAP Science Team’s Five Year release.
• Fifty new panoramas of Mars and the Moon, from the Phoenix, Spirit, Opportunity, Pathfinder, and Apollo missions.
Next month onwards a new feature will be incorporated to make your own communities online via making WTML files.
You can download WWT from here.
What do you think, is this release fantastic or what, I really liked it.You? Leave your comments…
