(Forgive the cheesy pun, but it had to be said!)
For all you star-enthusiasts and dreamers out there, this is what you’ve been waiting for. Google did it once with Google Maps, and now they’ve created a small partial map of our universe.
‘100,000 Stars’ takes you on an interactive journey across our solar system, star cluster, and Milky Way galaxy, in 3D.
With our sun at the centre, you are able to zoom in and out to see our position and place in the galaxy, as well as 87 labelled stars around us.
Clicking on a star zooms into it for an artist’s rendering, and information about it. As you can see, the excerpt is from Wikipedia, a semi-reliable source most of the time. Exiting out of the information box allows you to rotate the star and view it from all angles.
(Image credit: Google ‘100,000 Stars’ Galaxy Map)
Zoom out from the labelled stars, and you are treated to a dazzling display of jewel-like clusters that boggle the mind. It’s humbling to think we are but a single tiny planet amidst all these giants of the cosmos.
All the while your exploration is accompanied by thematic music composed by Sam Hulick, who scored the video game “Mass Effect”.
To create this experience, Google tapped WebGL, CSS3D, and Web Audio software, so in order to play around with ‘100,000 Stars,’ your computer must have a WebGL-compatible browser (like Google Chrome). Otherwise you get to watch a short guided-tour of a pre-prepared trek across the galaxy.
Google warns that “Scientific accuracy is not guaranteed,” as the data is from Wikipedia. “Please do not use this visualization for interstellar navigation.”
We will be sure to bear that in mind, Google.