The final frontier gets a little closer....

Microsoft has just launched the WorldWide Telescope (WWT), a free, downloadable application that lets you explore the skies. If you want to see the same images that scientists at NASA use for their research or perhaps see the earth from the same perspective as astronauts, take a few minutes to install WWT and start your explorations. Or read the press release in full here.

 It's quite amazing what WWT enables you to see from your desktop. The service goes well beyond the simple browsing of images. You can choose which telescope you want to look through, including the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Centre, the Spitzer Space Telescope or others. You can view the locations of planets in the night sky - in the past, present or future and also view the universe through different wavelengths of light to reveal hidden structures in other parts of the galaxy. Take a break and take a look!