It's not often that we get really excited about a product release from Microsoft, but this one is cool (so cool it made tech blogger Robert Scoble cry!):
Here's Harvard astrophysicist Roy Gould speaking at TED introducing the WorldWide Telescope, created by Microsoft's Visual Experience Engine that enables seamless panning and zooming across the night sky:
The WorldWide Telescope takes the best images from the world's greatest telescopes on earth and in space and has woven them seamlessly to produce a holistic view of the universe. It's going to change the way we do astronomy. It's going to change the way we teach astronomy. Most importantly it's going to change the way we see ourselves in the universe.
Hit play or go to Link [VideoEgg at TED] | WorldWide Telescope website - via Tech Rivet
The difference between this and Google Earth sky mode is that this is 3D.
You can go past objects and not just zoom in on a picture.
Nice idea from Google indeed...