The WWT Documentation Hub

What would you like to learn about today? Regardless of the topic, you can always reach out to the WWT forum if the resources below don’t meet your needs.

Getting Started with WWT🔗

The WorldWide Telescope User Manual shows how to use the WWT Windows application and the web client.

Are you a researcher? Use WWT’s rendering engine to visualize and analyze your data inside Jupyter with pywwt.

Check out our YouTube channel to see for yourself what WWT can do and how educators and scientists across the world are using it.

Creating Experiences with WWT🔗

Tours are scripted, multimedia experiences that guide the viewer through WWT’s simulated universe. Create and share tours to teach astronomical concepts, showcase your data, or share your passion for the cosmos!

WWT tours are built out of graphical layers in the WWT rendering engine that add new imagery, 3D models, orbital trajectories, and more. Visit the Layer Guide to learn what’s possible.

Getting Your Data into WWT🔗

For most images and data tables, the fastest way to visualize them in WorldWide Telescope is with the pywwt Python package.

The WWT Data Guide is your one-stop-shop to understand the details of the different data formats used in WorldWide Telescope and the software tools that create and manipulate them.

Use the toasty Python package to “tile” large images for efficient Web-based visualization.

Developing WWT-Based Software🔗

You can use the pywwt to build custom WWT-based visualizations in the Python language.

The web client and pywwt are powered by a reusable JavaScript library, the WWT WebGL Engine, which you can use to build your own web-based interactives and embeds.

For specialized applications not covered by pywwt, you can programmatically load data into the WWT Windows application using the Layer Control API.

Using WWT in a Planetarium🔗

WWT can power multiple-projector planetarium domes and other high-end display systems. The Planetarium Guide shows how to configure your projector alignment, set up advanced controllers, and more.

Feeling handy? The WWT D.I.Y. Planetarium Dome Guide shows how to build your own small planetarium dome from scratch!

Exploring WWT Infrastructure🔗

The Infrastructure Guide provides an overview of the infrastructure systems that support the WWT applications and services.

The wwt_data_formats Python package documents the details of WWT’s low-level data formats, and provides tools for reading and writing them.

The wwt_api_client Python package documents the details of WWT’s web services APIs and provides tools for issuing requests.

Additional Resources🔗

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