Update

Last night we put new build on all our online servers. It includes mostly bug fixes and performance optimizations. There was significant change in JavaScript packaging. We tested all the changes, but our QA team abilities are quite limited. So please let us know if you find any bugs. Thanks.

Version 2 Window API

I mentioned already about SkyWindow API. Here’s a newer version.
SkyWindow2 API:


Below is the html code that does the trick:


<script type='text/javascript'
   src='http://wikisky.org/js/skywindow2'></script>
<div style='position:relative;left:0px;top:0px;width:450px;height:450px'>
<DIV id='mySkyWnd'
  style='position:absolute;left:0;top:0;width:450px;height:450px;overflow:hidden;border:1px solid gray'
  onmouseout='hideddrivetip();'></DIV></div>
<script type="text/javascript">
var options = {ra:12.4283, de:12.81, initZoom:6, zoom:6,
  survey:"", imgSource:"DSS2", allowTopPanel:true, showTopPanel:true, showRightPanel:false,
  allowMove:true, allowZoom:true,
  showPanZoomControl:true, panZoomControlLeft:6, panZoomControlTop:10,
  showScale:true, showStatus:false, showPosition:true, showStickers:true, showLabels:true,
  jpegQuality:0.8,
  showGrid:true, showOverlayGrid:false,
  showConstLines:true, showOverlayConstLines:false,
  showConstBoundaries:true, showOverlayConstBoundaries:false,
  showConstNames:false, showOverlayConstNames:false,
  showGalaxies:true, showOverlayGalaxies:false,
  showStars:true, showOverlayStars:false,
  buffer:1, moveTime:2000, smoothMoveAccelerationTime:500,
  posColor:"lightgray",posFontSize:"8pt",posFontWeight:"normal",posFontFamily:"verdana",
  scaleMaxLen:90, scaleHeight:6, scaleColor:"lightgray", scaleLineWidth:1
};
new SkyWindow2(options).attach($('mySkyWnd'));
</script>

One important detail: If you want to show object info labels while moving mouse over the map. You need to add simple proxy script on your server to redirect AJAX calls to WikiSky servers. The reason is that browser’s JavaScript security policy does not allow to make AJAX call to any server except the one current page loaded from.

Here’s an example of simple php code:


<?php
include("HttpClient.class.php");
$u=$_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"];
$client = new HttpClient("server1.sky-map.org");
if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == 'POST') {
   $client->post('/'.$u, file_get_contents("php://input"));
} else {
   $client->get('/'.$u);
}
$contentType = $client->getHeader("Content-Type");
$pageContents = $client->getContent();
header('Content-type: '.$contentType);
echo $pageContents;
?>

SPAM update

Ok, we finished recovering from massive spam attack on our forum (see previous posts). The forum is back on-line now. It is possible we accidentally killed few of your good posts. Sorry about that, there was quite a lot of junk to sort out.

WikiSky on Facebook

I have created group on the Facebook for our users and contributors. If you’ve got a Facebook account – feel free to join our fans club at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=162637622782

SPAM

In last few days our forums have been heavily attacked by spammers, causing partial denial of service. About 150,000 spam posts have been submitted in just few days. Forums are off line now. We still recovering from the attack. Dear SPAMMERS. C’mon, aren’t you have anything better to do? I’d rather now been doing some useful stuff on the site, rather than spend hours cleaning up your mess.

GALEX survey updated to GR5

We have updated our ultraviolet GALEX survey with the latest GR5 (http://galex.stsci.edu/GR4/) release. It contains 870 new tiles of sky coverage from the primary mission surveys.  In addition, 266 GR4 tiles were delivered with extended exposure times. Since GR5 was processed with the same pipeline as GR4, it may be considered a supplement to GR4. You can access updated survey following this link: http://www.wikisky.org/?zoom=1&img_source=GALEX

100 Hours of Astronomy

100 Hours of Astronomy is a global astronomy event from 2 to 5 April when you can discover the Universe with the rest of the world!  A project of the International Year of Astronomy, there are free public activities happening all around the world, and online right here.

Happy New Year

2009 - International Year of Astronomy

Happy New Year to all our visitors.
2009 is the International Year of Astronomy

From Wikipedia:

The International Year of Astronomy is a year long celebration of astronomy, taking place in 2009 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations with a telescope by Galileo Galilei and the publication of Johannes Kepler’s Astronomia nova in the 17th century. The Year was declared by the 62nd General Assembly of the UN. A global scheme, laid out by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), has also been endorsed by UNESCO – the UN body responsible for Educational, Scientific and Cultural matters.

Both the International Astronomical Union and UNESCO are coordinating the International Year of Astronomy in 2009. This initiative is an opportunity for the citizens of Earth to gain a deeper insight into astronomy’s role in enriching all human cultures. Moreover, it will serve as a platform for informing the public about the latest astronomical discoveries while emphasizing the essential role of astronomy in science education.

Also take a look on Bad Astronomer’s blog post on the topic.

Wikipedia’s donation campaign 2008

Wikipedia is running Donation campaign 2008. So far they collected just under $4.5 million with goal of $6 million. The donation progress is slowing down lately. Common people! If you like idea of free information on internet (I mean really FREE, including ads-free content) please donate now. Least what I want to see in Wikipedia (as well as in WikiSky) it is annoying advertisements.
Wikipedia Affiliate Button

0-zoom images updated

DSS2 all sky image (aitoff projection)


SDSS all sky image (aitoff projection)


RASS3 all sky image (aitoff projection)


GALEX all sky image (aitoff projection)


Astrophoto all sky image (aitoff projection)


IRAS (infrared) all sky image (aitoff projection)


H-Alhpa all sky image (aitoff projection)

We have updated images at top zoom level (0). We already had 0-zoom images for IRAS, H-Alpha, astrophoto and SKY-MAP surveys. New images include DSS2, SDSS, RASS3 and GALEX surveys. Also astrophoto updated with latest images. The top level images represent whole sky in aitoff projection with center in R.A.=12h, Dec.=0°