A. David Weigel

INTUITIVE Planetarium at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center exhibit hall booth complete with Space Camp carpet with a person laying on it with arms on hips in setup triumph

#AAS247

5500 light years from us, new stars are being born ✨ This stunning new #jwst image showcases 2 of the brightest & most massive stars known - weighing in at over 60x the mass of our Sun! Data like this are helping us understand how stars are born. Read more: science.nasa.gov/missions/web...

Rubin First Look Rubin First Look

Want to get closer to the @vrubinobs.bsky.social #RubinFirstLook images? Zoom + explore the stunning images for yourself at projects.cosmicds.cfa.harvard.edu/rubin-first-look #CaptureTheCosmos

Rubin First Look Rubin First Look

Epic, right!? You can zoom on the nebula image as well in this interactive!

projects.cosmicds.cfa.harvard.edu/rubin-first-...

Also if you want to view both images, zoom able and in context of the sky: projects.cosmicds.cfa.harvard.edu/rubin-first-...

YouTube video by WWTAmbassadors Rubin First Look WorldWide Telescope Interactive How-to

Thanks to the Vera Rubin Observatory and WorldWide Telescope, everyone can go explore these GIGANTIC SPECTACULAR images of our Universe today!! Experience the full richness of the 3200 MegaPixel images in context at projects.cosmicds.cfa.harvard.edu/rubin-first-...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsIk...

Thanks @vrubinobs.bsky.social NSF, DOE, @cosmicds.bsky.social @adavidweigel.bsky.social WorldWide Telescope for making these spectacular first looks possible! Can't wait for movies coming next!! projects.cosmicds.cfa.harvard.edu/rubin-first-...
#capturethecosmos
#RubinFirstLook
#worldwidetelescope

Four charts showing the extent of cuts to NASA in the FY26 budget:

- Cuts to every science division
- Smallest science funding since 1984
- 19 active, inflight missions cancelled
- Smallest NASA budget since FY 1961

Job alert for any US planetarium pals!

INTUITIVE Planetarium lobby in a spaceberry glow with white letterts spelling NASA

Asteroid collision simulated on a planetarium dome with a silhouette of individuals in front

A packed planetarium for a celebration of 25 years of x-ray science from the Chandra X-ray Observatory

Come work with me at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center! I am excited to share a FT position to lead production efforts for our Cocktails & Cosmos shows (new every Friday). If live, interactive presenting is your jam and you dream about data viz, we want you! 🔭

recruiting2.ultipro.com/ALA1012ASSEC...

This image presents a stunning deep space view centered on the Cat’s Eye Nebula, with intricate structures and vibrant colors. The nebula itself glows in an ethereal blue and violet hue, surrounded by delicate, symmetrical, and concentric gaseous layers that form its iconic shape. The surrounding space is filled with an intricate web of faint reddish and brownish wisps on the outer region surrounding the nebula. Bright stars with distinct diffraction spikes punctuate the scene, adding depth and contrast to the dark, star speckled background. Numerous galaxies are also visible in the background. The image showcases a great balance between sharp details in the nebula's core and the softer, ghostly tendrils of interstellar gas beyond.

1/n 🧵

Cat's Eye Nebula NGC 6543 as seen by @esa.int Euclid Space Telescope

Full size & full info: flic.kr/p/2qTiGsj
Credit: ESA/Euclid/EuclidConsortium/NASA/AndreaLuck CC BY

Latest data release available on: eas.esac.esa.int/sas
Filters: HSC G, VIS, NIR H, NIR J, NIR Y 🧪🔭

A spiral galaxy seen close up and almost face on. It is filled with puffy, patchy clouds of hot gas and dust. Red, orange and yellow colours indicate light emitted by different particles. The brightest colours are in the centre and along the two spiral arms, which wind out from the centre. Star clusters hide in the gas along the arms. A few large, bright white stars are prominent in the foreground, near to us.

🆕 This NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope image shows NGC 2283, a barred spiral galaxy; its central bar of stars is encircled by loosely wound spiral arms 🔭

esawebb.org/images/potm2...

Updates to the Radio Star Interactive! Safari (and all? browsers on iPhones) now work (and various other optimizations). Go check out the awesome work from @astrolaura.com and @taramurphy.bsky.social. Happy exploring! 🔭 🧪

web.wwtassets.org/specials/202...

Sydney Radio Star Catalogue Explore the Sydney Radio Star Catalogue in 2D (sky) and 3D (galaxy) powered by WorldWideTelescope.

I'm bummed I missed your poster - I am very interested in interactive mobile data viz and would be happy to chat. I just created a 2D/3D viewer for radio stars: web.wwtassets.org/specials/202...

Sydney Radio Star Catalogue Explore the Sydney Radio Star Catalogue in 2D (sky) and 3D (galaxy) powered by WorldWideTelescope.

It was a great addition to my new radio stars interactive! web.wwtassets.org/specials/202...

This is really amazing! I'd love to chat about getting this into planetariums. Are you at #AAS245 this week?

The Milky Way galaxy, showed edge on with a central bulge and warp

The Milky Way galaxy, shown with a bar, 5 messy arms.

My current best guess at what the Milky Way looks like, based in large part on Gaia Data.
See @esascience for more details! and @HdAstro for more Milky Way and other visualizations coming soon...

I've pushed some small fixes and additional features to the Radio Star interactive explorer. #AAS245 🔭

Safari is still mad on mobile (apologies!) so use chrome (and maybe not an iPhone yet). New updates coming soon :)

web.wwtassets.org/specials/202...

Yessss! And I have the rocket on a business card for anyone in need! #AAS245

Also if you are at #AAS245 this week, please say hello, and let's talk about making your data pretty and accessible (and preferably in your local planetarium and planetariums all over the world). 🔭

Thank you! Definitely need to optimize the loading amongst some other things.

Thank you! Galactic lat/lon could definitely be added as an additional mouse over option in 3D mode. I can add that to my list after fixes to 3D mode on safari browsers.

Explore Orion Nebula Imagery Explore Orion Nebula imagery in context of the sky using WorldWide Telescope

Try exploring it in context of the sky: web.wwtassets.org/specials/202...

There's still some bugginess (mobile safari hates me it seems) and a few features I want to add but I'm overall happy with this as a proof of concept. If you'd like to see your data in something similar, let me know that as well! 🔭 🧪

Sydney Radio Star Catalogue Explore the Sydney Radio Star Catalogue in 2D (sky) and 3D (galaxy) powered by WorldWideTelescope.

Have you seen the new radio stars catalog published recently by @astrolaura.com et al? I made an interactive viewer that I think puts the data into nice perspective both against a 2D sky survey and 3D in the Milky Way. Let me know what you think! 🔭 🧪

web.wwtassets.org/specials/202...

After several months of climbing up the steep slopes of the Jezero crater rim, Perseverance has reached the top!
The afternoon sun provides a spectacular view on landscape which the rover will explore soon! 🔭

Full panorama: www.360cities.net/image/marsro...

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Simeon Schmauß

It is impossible to comprehend the enormity!

Thanks, I appreciate it!

And I am happy for suggestions on how to improve the useability and look of the interactive, so send them my way!