Explore the universe with ESASky!

Introducing ESASky, a discovery portal that provides complete access to the entire starry sky. This open science application allows computer, tablet and mobile phone users to visualize near and far cosmic objects across the electromagnetic spectrum. The ESASky online app is an innovative atlas of the starry sky and provides astronomers, both professional and amateur, with an easy way to access high-quality scientific data.

ESAsky It contains more than half a million images, 300,000 spectra, and more than a billion catalog resources. From gamma rays to radio wavelengths, the science-based app allows users to explore the universe with data from dozens of space missions from the Astronomy Archive of Missions in ESA's Space Science Fleet, as well as from some NASA and JAXA missions. ESAsky It does not require any prior knowledge of any specific task. “We want to expand access to astronomical data from ESA's advanced spacecraft and space telescopes and provide users with the best scientifically relevant products from each mission,” said Bruno Merin, Head of the ESAC Science Data Center at ESA's European Space Astronomy Center (ESAC). “. ) in Madrid, Spain.

All paradise in your browser

ESAsky has an interface for exploring all the heavens. Users can easily zoom in to any location in the sky to visualize a star, galaxy, or other cosmic object of interest and retrieve relevant data taken in that part of the sky with just a few clicks. Furthermore, they can compare observations of the same source made at different wavelengths with different space missions. For example, far-infrared data from the Herschel Space Observatory can be combined with observations from the XMM-Newton X-ray Observatory.

The instrument can also be used to prepare future observations with the James Webb Space Telescope of NASA, ESA and CSA, by comparing the relevant part of the sky as observed by the Hubble Space Telescope of NASA and ESA or by one of the other missions in ESAsky are included. There are many options for using astronomical data ESAsky Visualize and open. Interactive fingerprints of the field of view of each instrument in the sky, catalog resources, additional information about each observation, and the orbits of objects in the solar system can be integrated and displayed.

The platform fosters collaboration between scientists as users can examine a portion of the sky, share it with colleagues, and download all data without logging in or registering, further simplifying access to data archives.

What's inside it?

ESAsky It contains data from more than a million astronomical observations collected since 1978. Cosmic sources range from planets, satellites and comets to stars, the interstellar medium surrounding our Milky Way Galaxy and other galaxies outside our Milky Way Galaxy. As of March 2018, the platform includes data from previous and current ESA missions such as EXOSAT, Gaia, Herschel, Hipparcos, the Hubble Space Telescope, the International Ultraviolet Explorer, INTEGRAL, the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), Planck, and XMM-Newton. . . It also includes data from NASA's Chandra telescopes and the NASA/JAXA Suzaku space telescopes.

The latest version of ESASky, released last month, includes access to scientific publications. “Users can highlight all astronomical objects in the sky that appear in scientific publications,” explains Deborah Baines, science lead at the ESAC Astronomy Archive. She adds: “By clicking on a special icon, it is possible to open the list of publications available for each object and link directly to the publication in NASA's Astrophysical Data System.”

“This is a convenient way to search for and visually link scientific publications and astronomical sources.” ESAsky is constantly evolving. In future releases, new functions and datasets will be added to make the application more powerful and complete. Future versions will provide improved usability for mobile phones and the ability to search for changes over time in any region of the sky that has been observed more than once.

“We encourage everyone to do so ESAsky To experience it and immerse yourself in the universe at your fingertips,” concludes Mirren.

Isasky website: https://sky.esa.int

source: European Space Agency