Things are changing

The internet, after a decade of exploring device interaction with the iPad and iPhone, changing our idea of reality by electronically altering images with tools like Photoshop and finally going back to the organic imagery of photography with creative shots of everyday objects; the internet is finally giving you the opportunity to explore the universe without leaving the comfort of your chair.

Our Galaxy was just unveiled by Google. It is a 3D rendering where we are free to explore the suns, planets and moons of our Galaxy beyond our solar system. If you visit the website you will find a visualization of our Galaxy. In the lower right is a Question Mark (?) that when clicked brings up a description of the screen. In the upper left is Take a tour which is a great visual overview of where we are in relation to our Galaxy. Or you can just scroll up and down, forward and backward and explore on your own.

I invite you to give it a try and show it to the young people in your life. I think everyone will enjoy it.

Googles Our Galaxy Description:

100,000 Stars is an interactive visualization of the stellar neighborhood created for the Google Chrome web browser. It shows the location of 119,617 nearby stars derived from multiple sources, including the 1989 Hipparcos mission. Zooming in reveals 87 individually identified stars and our solar system. The galaxy view is an artist’s rendition based on NGC 1232, a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way.

Instructions: Pan using your mouse and zoom in/out using your touchpad or mouse wheel. Click a star’s name to learn more about it.

Warning: Scientific accuracy is not guaranteed. Please do not use this visualization for interstellar navigation.