Microsoft (News - Alert) Chairman Bill Gates has announced that Microsoft is going to launch a tool for exploring images of the night sky, which it is calling “Worldwide Telescope.” Gates said the new application will be available by the end of this month will be offered free to users.

 

Worldwide Telescope software collects image data of the sky, as provided by various telescopes around the world, including data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

 

“This is taking data that’s very complex, gathered over many years from many telescopes, and making it accessible,” commented Bill Gates (News - Alert).

 

Microsoft’s software will allow people to explore the universe, and even create their own galactic tours. They will also be able to listen to professors speak about these specific parts, like a galaxy or star, or access other users’ posted tours. The variety of features is made possible through Worldwide Telescope’s use of star databases from all over the world (and Web).

 

Although Microsoft didn’t divulge any further details, Worldwide Telescope appears similar to Google (News - Alert) Sky, the star-gazing software launched by Google in August 2007. With Google Sky, users can “float” through the skies and view and navigate through 100 million individual stars and 200 million galaxies. By providing high resolution imagery and seven informative overlays, Google Sky creates a unique experience for visualizing and learning about space. The interface and navigation features include dragging, zooming, search, “My Places,” and layer selection.

 

Gates also hinted that the data collection techniques used in Worldwide Telescope could be applied to many other subjects, including genomics, but he did not say whether Microsoft was working on any other such projects.