Putting Microsoft`s Worldwide Telescope Under a Lens - Project Origins
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The project was based on the ideas of Curtis Wong, manager of Microsoft's Next Media Research group, and Jim Gray, who was unfortunately lost at sea off the Northern California coast in January 2007, before he could see his ideas fully realized. Gray initially wanted to find a way to make astronomical data available for scientists, but it was Wong who said to him, "let's bring all this data and make it available, accessible and engaging to the public." It was because of this tragic accident that Wong decided to set the project in motion and dedicate it to his late friend.
(Europa - smallest of Galilean moons of Jupiter)
Unfortunately for Microsoft, this isn't the first interactive representation of the universe to come out. One of their top competitors, Google, recently unveiled the web-based version of their Google Sky application, which provides a similar searchable map service for outer space. This, of course, was a follow up to the release several years ago of Google Earth, which, instead of looking up into the sky, looks down on the earth.
Besides being web-based, Google Sky is unique because it allows the user to view the night sky with certain overlays, such as infrared and cosmic microwave background radiation. You can also view images in non-visible spectra, like X-ray and UV-ray. Navigation was made easy through the use of right ascension and declination - the two coordinates of the equatorial coordinate system, which is used to locate celestial bodies. And because it's Google, there is a search feature that allows you to search for individual celestial bodies.
But Google Sky didn't get the rave reviews Worldwide Telescope has gotten so far. In fact, some have said that the images produced by Google Sky are of lower quality than what would be generated by a Google Image search. Perhaps the disparity can be attributed to its web-based functionality, or by the same token, Microsoft's prolonged development process. Either way, it's worth it to provide a detailed analysis of the Worldwide Telescope's true capability.
Next: Specifications >>
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