Astronomy
NASA?s new beta version of Eyes on the Solar System, developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech, lets you do just that. The web application is essentially a 3D model of the solar system, containing many of its bodies and a great number of space probes sent out from Earth (including Epoxi 2, which recently performed a flyby of comet Hartley 2). With a number controls, you can zoom around the solar system exploring these objects, with beautiful 3D models for each of them. You can also manipulate the time to explore where the objects and the probes were in the past, or where they will be in the future.
Overall, this is a very glorious and well done project. It?s already a great tool for learning more about our planet's local neighborhood, and as it accumulates even more data and more components of the solar system, it can only get better. I can?t wait until this project leaves beta status, and includes further inclusions like nebulae and galaxies. You can head over to the project site right now to try it out. You will have to install the Unity Web Player plug-in in order to use it, and you will be prompted to install it on the site.
- Exotic Dust In Comet Trail
Comet dust caught in the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere and scooped up by a NASA aircraft had been found to contain grains of dust dating back to before our Solar System formed. Dust like this is worth its weight in gold for telling us about...
- The History Of Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope has cost U.S. taxpayers some $10 billion in the quarter century since the project was approved. But to astronomers around the world, the high-flying satellite is, in a word, priceless. The solar-powered spacecraft has helped...
- Earth Could Be Bombard With Deadly Comets But We Don't Have To Worry About It.
A rogue star will pass by our solar system could cause life-threatening comet showers on Earth. According to TheHuffingtonPost Dr Coryn Bailer-Jones from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg has noted that there are several stars which...
- Our Neighbors In Space
We have a special feeling toward the other planets that circle our sun. Maybe it?s all the science fiction stories about visiting the moon, Mars and other planets. But we love to think about those planets that make up what we call ?the solar...
- Astronomy: Our Space Neighbors
We have a special feeling toward the other planets that circle our sun. Maybe it?s all the science fiction stories about visiting the moon, Mars and other planets. But we love to think about those planets that make up what we call ?the solar...
Astronomy
Fly Around the Solar System
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| Voyager 2 looking back at the planets in Eyes on the Solar System. |
Overall, this is a very glorious and well done project. It?s already a great tool for learning more about our planet's local neighborhood, and as it accumulates even more data and more components of the solar system, it can only get better. I can?t wait until this project leaves beta status, and includes further inclusions like nebulae and galaxies. You can head over to the project site right now to try it out. You will have to install the Unity Web Player plug-in in order to use it, and you will be prompted to install it on the site.
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| Cassini and Saturn in Eyes on the Solar System |
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| Halley's Comet in Eyes on the Solar System |
- Exotic Dust In Comet Trail
Comet dust caught in the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere and scooped up by a NASA aircraft had been found to contain grains of dust dating back to before our Solar System formed. Dust like this is worth its weight in gold for telling us about...
- The History Of Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope has cost U.S. taxpayers some $10 billion in the quarter century since the project was approved. But to astronomers around the world, the high-flying satellite is, in a word, priceless. The solar-powered spacecraft has helped...
- Earth Could Be Bombard With Deadly Comets But We Don't Have To Worry About It.
A rogue star will pass by our solar system could cause life-threatening comet showers on Earth. According to TheHuffingtonPost Dr Coryn Bailer-Jones from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg has noted that there are several stars which...
- Our Neighbors In Space
We have a special feeling toward the other planets that circle our sun. Maybe it?s all the science fiction stories about visiting the moon, Mars and other planets. But we love to think about those planets that make up what we call ?the solar...
- Astronomy: Our Space Neighbors
We have a special feeling toward the other planets that circle our sun. Maybe it?s all the science fiction stories about visiting the moon, Mars and other planets. But we love to think about those planets that make up what we call ?the solar...