Virtual tour around the Milky Way

© Open Science Hubs Drenthe

For the Open Science Hub "De Melkweg" in Dwingeloo, a virtual reality experience was developed that shows a tour of the Milky Way and neighboring galaxies. Visitors of the Science Hub can sit down in a comfortable chair and view the VR Tour using one of the headsets in the Science Hub. Visitors of the Science Hub often find the VR tour one of the highlights; kids queue up to view it, sometimes multiple times.

The tour (in Dutch) starts with a Dwingeloo centered view of Earth, then zooms out showing the Solar system, after which we fly toward Sagittarius A*, onwards outside the Milky Way towards Andromeda and the galaxies Dwingeloo 1 and Dwingeloo 2.

Now, this tour is also available on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-McQjhV1LM

Youtube also allows to view video in a virtual reality setting. There are three ways to enjoy this video without dedicated hardware:

• On a computer, using the keys A, S, D, W to look around in the video.
• On a mobile phone, looking around by moving the phone.
• With a mobile phone in a cardboard VR box (click the VR button in the lower right corner of the video). You can borrow one of these devices from Tammo Jan, we'll also put one in the canteen near the daily image screen.

The tour was made by Paul Steward of S[&]T, using (and scripting) the software Space Engine Pro.