7 September 2016

AAS WorldWide Telescope Update

New WWT Web Client
Most of the software development work on WorldWide Telescope (WWT) under the AAS has been to replicate the advanced visualization functionality and tour authoring capability of the Windows Desktop Client to the web client, powered by WebGL. This new web architecture uses the native graphics horsepower of your PC to produce sophisticated visualizations, all within a web browser independent of the operating system or browser. Tours authored in the web client can be played back on the Windows Desktop Client on dome or other advanced visualization systems, as well as shared easily online.

Currently, you can create slide-based tours using the web client exactly as you would if you were using the Windows Desktop Client. Sky data in WWT and included in user-curated collections can be used now. Solar system objects and data outside the solar system (e.g., 3D distributions of molecular clouds, galaxy clusters, etc.) will be coming soon.

An extensive tutorial about getting started with authoring using the new web client is available on the WWT webpage.

Monthly WWT Training
Online training instructing astronomers how to use the new web client to create tours will kick off a monthly series of tutorials on various aspects of WWT. This training will take place using YouTube Live. The training will be kept short — only 30 minutes — so we hope you can fit this into your monthly schedules. These trainings are intended to be interactive between the presenter and the participants, so please ask questions!

We will edit each session down to 5 minutes for offline viewing and, over time, will create a series of video tutorials. If you have a topic you would like to see covered in 2017 or if you would like to present one yourself, please contact [email protected].

The fall training schedule is currently available.

2016 WWT Prize
The American Astronomical Society is excited to announce a competition to create the best visual experiences using the American Astronomical Society’s WorldWide Telescope (AAS-WWT) system. If you are an experienced WWT user and have made a cool tour, interactive, or video in the past, enter the contest! If you are new to WWT but have an astronomy story to tell, jump into WWT and make a tour to submit! The competition is open to everyone; there are no age or nationality restrictions. Submissions can be made in any of three categories:

  • Research
  • Education
  • Planetarium

There will be a first-, second-, and third-place prize in each category. The contest will close for submission at 5:00 pm Eastern time on Friday, 16 December 2016. Winners will be contacted by 31 December 2016 and will be recognized at the 229th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Grapevine, Texas, 3-7 January 2017. Each person can submit at most two entries.

Entries in any category can come in any of the following three formats:
  • WWT Tour (wtt files)
  • Embedded WWT interactive
  • Videos created using WWT

Information on preparing submissions is available on the WWT webpage.

Entries can be submitted and managed on the webpage.

If you have questions about the 2016 WWT Prize or any other WWT activities, please email [email protected].