Frequently Asked Questions

    How do you make a tour?

    To create a tour, you first go to "Guided Tours" and click on the sub-menu (the little rectangle that appears at the bottom of the tab) and click "Create A New Tour." Then, enter a title and other information for your tour (which you can edit later). Then you are ready to get started! 

    Why is the Universe shaped like a bow tie?

     

    The image of the universe as a bowtie is misleading. The Milky Way is at the center of this bowtie, and the "missing data" is in line with the plane of our galaxy. We cannot observe these areas because there are too many stars and too much gas and dust obscuring our field of view. This creates the bowtie shape.

    The SDSS data in the 3D view have an hourglass shape because galaxies in the plane of our own Milky Way were excluded from observation - too much "gunk," or gas and dust, in the way. If you orient the SDSS galaxies, so it looks like an hourglass, you can then zoom back in and show how the missing wedges align with the plane of the Milky Way. This is not what the universe looks like; it simply represents where we were most easily able to take the data to create the map.

    One side of the "bow tie" looks more populated than the other because it is easier for the SDSS telescope to observe in that direction from its location in New Mexico.... Read more about Why is the Universe shaped like a bow tie?

    What are nebulae?

    There are different kinds of nebulae. It is important to distinguish between nebulae that form stars and nebulae that stars form when they die. For example, the Orion Nebula is a region that is forming new stars, but a planetary nebula is the death of a star.
    Read more about What are nebulae?

    What are all these streaks and lines? When I try to use the Finder Scope, it doesn't know about them.

    The streaks and lines that appear in WWT, but are not astronomical objects, are usually imperfections in the imagery of the telescopes. Many line segments are the result of things like meteors, aircraft, and satellites. Meteors usually show up as lines with pointy ends and a brighter middle, and are sometimes green. Satellites can present as dashed blue lines. Aircraft lines are usually fairly solid and uniform, but sometimes wiggle a bit from turbulence in the air. White lines are often "seams" between images. ...
    Read more about What are all these streaks and lines? When I try to use the Finder Scope, it doesn't know about them.

    I’m having trouble making the finder scope work. What should I do?

    First, check to make sure the Finder Scope is lined up with the correct object. You can do this by reading the name listed on the Finder Scope and comparing it to the name of your desired object. If the object the Finder Scope is focused on is not the object you want, try moving it slightly and see if you can detect your object.

    You can also check that the thumbnail that shows up on the Finder Scope matches the image you want to research. You may sometimes find that your Finder Scope is looking at an infrared image when you were trying to...

    Read more about I’m having trouble making the finder scope work. What should I do?

    How do I use Wikipedia from the Finder Scope?

    To use Finder Scope to get information from Wikipedia, click on the “Research” button at the bottom of the Finder Scope screen. Click on “Information” and then select “Look up on Wikipedia.”  Make sure to align the Finder Scope with the image that lists only the name of the object, not a title from a press release or from a specific photograph.

    Also, keep in mind that not every object in WWT has a Wikipedia page. Many objects that have names that like HIP91792 that seem to be just a string of letters and numbers do not have Wikipedia pages. You may have...

    Read more about How do I use Wikipedia from the Finder Scope?

    How can I help students with research projects? Where should I point them for ideas for topics and how can I help them use WWT to find more information?

        When choosing topics, try to steer students toward interesting stories, not just facts. (Examples: How does a star form? Where do planetary nebulae come from? What happens when two galaxies collide? What is the evidence for black holes? Why is Neptune blue while Saturn is orange?)

        Don’t feel like you have to tell them all the answers. Teach them to fish instead of giving them fish. “That’s a good question. What do you think?”

        When you do give answers, try to focus your explanations on WHY something is true, HOW we know...

    Read more about How can I help students with research projects? Where should I point them for ideas for topics and how can I help them use WWT to find more information?

    How do I change the scale in WWT?

    In the bottom right corner of the WWT window, you should see a small horizontal scale labeled “Planet Size” and going from “Actual” to “Large.” Adjusting this will enlarge the planets, stars, and other objects, keeping their relative sizes accurate, but without scaling the distances proportionally. This makes things much easier to fit on the screen, but makes things look much closer together than they are. ...
    Read more about How do I change the scale in WWT?

    What is a tour?

    "Tours" are interactive paths through the night sky, designed to tell a story or teach a particular astronomy concept.  They look like movies, but when viewed in WWT, you can pause the tour to explore regions of the sky that catch your interest, and you can click on hyperlinks throughout the tour to learn more about an object or phenomenon.

    You may create a tour using the desktop version of WorldWide telescope.

    Here is a screen cast of an example tour, made by Alyssa Goodman, called "Dust and Us."...

    Read more about What is a tour?

    How do I use public key authentication?

    Linux & Mac

    1. Open a Terminal and generate a key pair:
      ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096
    2. Use a passphrase for appropriate security.
    3. The keys are created in ~/.ssh/ (inside your home directory).
    4. Upload the public key file ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub to the RCE using an SFTP client like Filezilla, or run:
      scp ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub your-username@rce.hmdc.harvard.edu:~/
    5. Complete the "On the RCE" steps...
    Read more about How do I use public key authentication?

    Whom should I contact with inquiries or for information about any Ottoman or Turkish publications associated with the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard?

    All texts, journals or other publications associated with our department are published or otherwise maintained by the Ottoman Studies Foundation at Harvard University. Their headquarters are located in Turkey; the correspondence address (and primary contact name) is:
     
    Gonul Tekin
    P.K. 37
    34080
    Fatih, Istanbul
    Turkey
    ...

    Read more about Whom should I contact with inquiries or for information about any Ottoman or Turkish publications associated with the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard?

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