Explore the universe in 3D with the Universe Applet

or get some more files and more commands
with the Large Structures Applet which is
presented in a resizeable floating frame.

Hold the 3D universe in your hand

This applet shows a true 3D map (atlas or model) of stars and other objects in the Milky Way and thousands of other galaxies near or far away. You get the 3D effect when you turn the universe around as a ball by dragging it with the mouse. "True" means that positions of stars and galaxies are correct (but sizes are not).

Changing to one or several other files, turn the universe around and do some zooming is fine. But there are many other possibilities. To get explanations and use them all take time to visit the Large Structures Applet.

Files

My applets have benefited from data compilations made by others. I have adapted files as they appear on several sites, especially

• NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
• VizieR at The Strasbourg astronomical Data Center (CDS) with of course lots of files but not so many with distances to the objects
• An Atlas of The Universe of Richard Powell. His maps inspired me the idea of these applets
• Galaxy Map of Kevin Jardine, a very complete documentation on our galaxy
• List of exoplanetary host stars - Wikipedia.
• JPL Solar System Dynamics for data on the solar system planets and their orbits. The Large Structures Applet offers 3D asteroid and comet orbits as well.
• Heavens Above by Chris Peat for data on Pioneer 10 and 11, Voyager 1 and 2 and New Horizons far away spacecrafts

You should use the button "Data" down left in the applet to see more details concerning the sources of each individual file.