Putting Microsoft`s Worldwide Telescope Under a Lens
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Microsoft has just released the beta version of its Worldwide Telescope and the reviews are out of this world. All of a sudden, regular Joes like you and me have access to the same information available to the world's top astronomers. So, unless you're a professor of astrophysics, I'd say you stand to benefit from this new technology. Reading this article wouldn't hurt either.
Imagine being able to travel through space. I know, that's not much of a cerebral exercise, but my brain is still recovering from what I'll call society's "trickle down" effect on human behavior, but I digress. The point is that yet another simple-minded task has been rendered unnecessary by an advancement in computer technology. Microsoft's Worldwide Telescope gives you a seat smack-dab in the middle of the universe and lets you control where you want to go. Not literally, of course. I'm talking about from your desktop. Wow, you've got some imagination!
The application is available via a free download from this site. In order to utilize the software, users must be connected to the Internet. Other than that (and a few other system requirements, which I will get into later), users have access to a 3D representation of the universe, which includes information and images gathered from some of world's most well-known telescopes and observatories, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope.
(Hubble Image of Crab Nebula)
Because this is a free, beta version of the software, there are some images that aren't entirely accurate, but as I said before, you'd have to really know your astronomy to catch such slip-ups. And make no mistake, overall, the information is extremely accurate. The main purpose of this version is to help educate the uneducated, especially young minds that could potentially have a bright future in astronomy or science in general.
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