Take VR journeys to the TRAPPIST-1 system of seven Earth-sized exoplanets and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which helped discover them. Explore the Spitzer module with one of NASA's Great Observatories to learn how its 16+ year mission revealed the universe in infrared light. Then take interactive control of Spitzer to observe infrared sky sources and review the data after transmission to Earth.
This educational VR experience guides you through an imagined tour of the TRAPPIST-1 worlds, drawing from current scientific insights gained by Spitzer and other telescopes. Imagery reflects astronomers' best understanding of these exoplanets. Developed by Caltech/IPAC's Communications and Education group, it suits learners eager to grasp real space science through hands-on observation.
Take VR journeys through the TRAPPIST-1 system of exoplanets and to NASA’s Spitzer Space telescope, which played a key role in their discovery.
Travel along with one of NASA’s Great Observatories in the Spitzer module to see how its 16+ year mission enabled astronomers to study the universe as it appears in infrared light. Then interactively take control of Spitzer yourself to observe sources in infrared sky and review your data once it’s been transmitted to Earth.
The TRAPPIST-1 tour takes you on an imagined voyage to an incredible system of 7 Earth-sized worlds discovered and characterized by Spitzer working in collaboration with other telescopes on Earth and in space. The immersive imagery is inspired by our best current scientific understanding of these exoplanets.
This experience has been developed and updated by the Communications and Education group at Caltech/IPAC in support of the Spitzer mission, which concluded science operations on January 30th, 2020.
