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Friday, June 05, 2009

Exploring Extrasolar Planet with Star Trek

Many of those who love astronomy also have a strong tie to Star Trek. The voyages of the various USS Enterprises and other ships filled our imagination with a rich universe filled with stars, worlds, and strange beings. The cultural impact of Star Trek is so strong that many astronomers will use Trekkie vocabulary when trying to explain things to normal people.

The USS Voyager Astrometrics Exoplanetary Data Console maps out the extrasolar planets and provides basic data about each one while displaying everything on a console based on Star Trek Voyager. All the bells and whistles are from Star Trek and have the coolness factor associated with it. While one probably will not learn anything new with the tool it certainly is a neat educational toy to play with. (Hat tip: Google Earth Blog)

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