StarFlight
StarFlight is an interactive 3D virtual reality exhibit that provides an interactive exploration of the Orion, Ursa Major and Scorpius constellations. Users can view the constellations from Earth or from outer space. StarFlight's virtual outer space is a visualization of the Hipparcos star catalog. Hipparcos, a satellite operated by the European Space Agency from 1989-1993, catalogued the position of nearly 120,000 stars in our galaxy.

Constellations are groups of stars that appear to form shapes in the night sky. Observed from a different vantage point in outer space, however, the stars no longer appear aligned, but random and disassociated an illusion versus reality. For example, the stars that comprise the Big Dipper, an asterism in the Ursa Major constellation, are separated by many light years.
StarFlight was developed by the University of Chicago's Center for the Presentation of Science with funding from the National Science Foundation, and in collaboration with University of Illinois at Chicago's Electronic Visualization Laboratory.
Nov 28, 2006