... wouldn't it be great if this new Virtual Observatory from CalTech could get together with the Aussies and help to create a real moving virtual observatory. You'd think that the wealth of data combined with the technology would benefit both hemispheres.

[Astronomers have unveiled a dramatic computer visualisation of a trip through the Universe based on actual data collected by a sky survey.

The voyage coincides with a landmark in a project to provide the most detailed three-dimensional map ever made of the cosmos.

It has always been part of our aim to provide a version so that the general public can pilot their own intergalactic spaceship
-Prof Brian Boyle

The team of researchers from Australia and the UK measured the distances to 100,000 galaxies, four times the number in any previous survey.

Professor Brian Boyle from the Anglo-Australian Observatory and Professor Matthew Bailes from Swinburne University in Australia used Australia's largest optical telescope, the 3.9m (153 inch) Anglo-Australian Telescope and an instrument called 2dF to gather the information.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_754000/754038.stm

http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/

I know, it would still feel like standing in front of a bakery window. lol

Cheers,

Marcia