Celestial objects radiate energy over an extremely wide range of wavelengths from radio waves to infrared, optical to ultraviolet, x-rays and even gamma rays. However, the physical processes inside these objects can only be understood by combining observations at several wavelengths.

There are many impressive archives painstakingly constructed from observations associated with an instrument, for example, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), and the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). Each of these archives is interesting in itself and carries important information about the nature of celestial objects, but the comprehensive analysis of observations require the combining data from multiple instruments at different wavelengths. WWT offers access to various temporal and multi-spectral studies astronomic data and literature to anyone with an Internet connection.

Additionally, the data should be accessible so that the gap between cutting-edge research, education, and public knowledge is minimized and is presented in a form that facilitates integrative research. The WorldWide Telescope (WWT) is a step toward the "democratization" of the conduct of science. The Internet will become, as astronomers put it, "the world´s best telescope"--a supercomputer at your desktop.

• To aggregate scientific data from major telescopes, observatories and institutions and make temporal and multi-spectral studies available through a single cohesive Internet–based portal.
• To re-awaken the interest for science in the younger generations through astronomy and new technologies through the virtual observatory of the WWT. This also provides a wonderful base for teaching astronomy, scientific discovery, and computational science.

The massive amounts of data generated by the various scientific and research facilities is currently hundreds of terabytes and will soon be measured in petabytes. Yet sharing this information is problematic for several reasons. By enabling comparison of data from diverse sources--space and ground, and radio, optical, infrared, and other wavelengths--WWT provides a single Internet-based portal to this unprecedented catalog of data to study the evolving universe. By connecting to the same source materials that scientists at NASA and Caltech are using for their research, WWT is a powerful “virtual observatory” for scientists, educators, and the public. Researching the sky as easy as viewing a Web site and is accessible to everyone with an Internet connection.

WWT also contains features to help you explore the Earth, satellites, such as the Moon, and 360 degree panoramas of Yosemite’s Half Dome and other locations.