A “Google Maps” of the heavens

Another Infosthetics link: this time a Google Earth for the stars –  Wikisky.org  – incredible…

Astronomy is a a field where a huge amount of innovation utilising the potential of the web has taken place. The tradition of amateur astronomers has been furthered by the access to data and the ability to pool the findings of thousands of eyes using ever more sophisticated kit.

This amazing project aims to combine a wiki approach with an astronomical map  – that is to say you can find articles attached to stars, constellations and other heavenly bodies:

The main purpose of WIKISKY is to consolidate astronomical, astrophysical and other information about different space objects and astrophysical facts.

We hope to achieve this purpose using the principle of visualization. When a person reads an article about a star, the star is only the abstraction for that reader. The person cannot emotionally feel the reality of the star without actually seeing it. We strive to create an extremely detailed sky map to help everybody to better understand the information gathering about any space object and various phenomena connected with those space objects.

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