The WorldWide Telescope (WWT) is a computer program developed by Microsoft that allows you to explore outer space. WWT enables your computer to function as a virtual telescope. The WorldWide Telescope was announced at the Technology Entertainment Design (TED) conference in Monterey, California in February 2008.
The WorldWide Telescope was created with Microsoft’s Visual Experience Engine technology that enables you to pan and zoom around the night sky, planets and various environments. Images are taken from the Hubble Space Telescope – one of the largest space telescopes, which was carried into earth’s orbit by space shuttle in April 1990. WWT blends terabytes of images, information, and stories from multiple sources over the Internet.
The WorldWide Telescope has four objects that you can explore: Sky, Earth, Planets and Panoramas.:
Sky Mode: This is WorldWide Telescope’s main feature. It allows you to view high quality outer space images from the Hubble Space Telescope and ten Earth bound telescopes. You can see the same images that scientists use for their research.
Earth Mode: You can switch to this mode for viewing the Earth, using Google Earth, NASA World Wind etc.
Planets Mode: This mode allows you to explore three planets, namely Mars, Jupiter and the Moon.
Panoramas Mode: You can use this mode to explore panoramas and you can download images and save them to your desktop.
The system specifications are pretty hefty and include:
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista (recommended).
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo CPU with 2GHz or faster.
RAM: 1GB of RAM, 2GB is recommended.
Graphics: 3D accelerated card with 128MB of RAM; for higher performance, discrete graphics card with dedicated 256-MB VRAM is recommended.
HDD space: 1GB of available HDD space. 10GB is recommended for off-line features and higher browsing experience.
Display: XGA (1024 x 768) or higher resolution monitor.
DirectX and .NET Framework: Microsoft DirectX version 9.0c and .NET Framework 2.0.
Internet access: 56Kbps or higher.
Uncharacteristic for Microsoft, this gem of a Sunday afternoon time-killer is a free download! Click here to visit the page from where you can download the WorldWide Telescope and start exploring the universe.