Constellations | ||||
Andromeda | Antlia | Apus | Aquarius | Aquila |
Ara | Aries | Auriga | Bootes | Caelum |
Camelopardalis | Cancer | Canes Venatici | Canis Major | Canis Minor |
Capricornus | Carina | Cassiopeia | Centaurus | Cepheus |
Cetus | Chamaeleon | Circinus | Columba | Coma Berenices |
Corona Austrina | Corona Borealis | Corvus | Crater | Crux |
Cygnus | Delphinus | Dorado | Draco | Equuleus |
Eridanus | Fornax | Gemini | Grus | Hercules |
Horologium | Hydra | Hydrus | Indus | Lacerta |
Leo | Leo Minor | Lepus | Libra | Lupus |
Lynx | Lyra | Mensa | Microscopium | Monoceros |
Musca | Norma | Octans | Ophiuchus | Orion |
Pavo | Pegasus | Perseus | Phoenix | Pictor |
Pisces | Piscis Austrinus | Puppis | Pyxis | Reticulum |
Sagitta | Sagittarius | Scorpius | Sculptor | Scutum |
Serpens | Serpens 2 | Sextans | Taurus | Telescopium |
Triangulum | Triangulum Australe | Tucana | Ursa Major | Ursa Minor |
Vela | Virgo | Volans |
Welcome to Awesome2c, showing you our sky in 3D
Awesome2c offers two viewing modes. The default is the red/blue (3-D glasses) mode, which gives the big picture and facilitates navigating the sky. The alternative is the two-image stereoscope mode which is accessed by clicking on the pair of open rectangles in the menu bar at top right. It gives a very real looking true-color 3D image. You need either a two-lens stereoscope to view it, or a pair of strong reading glasses, plus some practice relaxing your eye focus so the images come together and merge. Tip: keep your eyes horizontal
To navigate through the sky, click on the image and drag it. Or touch and drag, depending on your computer. The numbers at top center are the celestial coordinates which the screen center points at. Think of them as the longitude and latitude of the sky. The initial scene is Orion at 5:7 h, 6.0 d, which most people know and is very interesting in itself. Also check out the Big Dipper upward to its left at 12:0 h, 55.0 d. And the center of our galaxy in the Saggitarius-Scorpio 'hood at 18:0 h, -30.0 d. Note how spread out in depth the Saggatarius "teapot" is
Alternatively, go directly to your favorite constellation using the Constellations menu. Click the " ** " item on the menu bar to bring it up
To increase the stereo effect, click the > symbol to the right of the Eyesep indicator; click on the < at left to decrease it. (Eyesep is the spacing in light years between your virtual eyes in the galaxy) Clicking the ^ icon by the Forward (or Backoff, depending) indicator moves you into the scene, and conversely with its opposite. Clicking the double-chevron icons starts a continuous flight into or out of the scene. Its smoothness depends on the computer's processing speed. Clicking either one a second time stops the flight; clicking on the ly (lightyears) distance number puts you back at earth. Note: these controls do not appear on phones or small tablets
The stars appear mainly in front of the screen in the anaglyph mode; somewhat behind it in the stereoscope view. Either is best viewed in dim or no light. If the stars literally seem in your face, back off on the Eyesep number. For example, distant Orion is best viewed at Eyesep 6.00 or more, while the very near by "Dog Star" Sirius will make you crosseyed at Eyeseps greater than 1.00
Browser recommendations: Opera and Microsoft Edge, with their low glare gray-black bezels, are easiest on the eyes. Firefox is next best. Forget Chrome
The star position data are from the ESA Hipparcos satellite astrometry mission: http://sci.esa.int/hipparcos. Stars are shown through magnitude 6, which is the accepted limit of visibility for the human eye
You are viewing celestial scenes that no creature can ever see. Have fun
(Click the " ?? " item on the menu bar to bring this menu up again)