Image courtesy of Microsoft's Next Media Research Group/WorldWide Telescope.

A technology preview of WorldWide Telescope was presented at TED2008 . Roy Gould, an astrophysicist from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics , introduced WorldWide Telescope in partnership with Curtis Wong, principal researcher of Microsoft’s Next Media Research Group and head of the project.

Microsoft Research says it is releasing WorldWide Telescope as a free resource to the astronomy and education communities with the hope that it will inspire and empower people to explore and understand the universe as never before.

The WorldWide Telescope i s a continuation of  work that began with the earlier SkyServer and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.