Of the many ways to explore the universe, there are some we can recommend, and one we do not.
1. Here’s a way we do NOT recommend:
2. Here’s one we do recommend. Corey Powell describes it as “The Most Amazing Map You’ll See Today (No Matter What Day It Is)“. It’s a 17-minute video with the slightly offputting title “Cosmography of the Local Universe“. Do not be offput. Powell further describes is at “the most amazing, three-dimensional map of the universe ever created”:
3. When you’ve seen “Cosmography of the Local Universe“, and gotten a feel for the depths of the universe, you might want to spend the next few minutes, months, or years choosing to go pretty much wherever you like in the universe, zooming in, almost anywhere, for as much further detail as you can stand. Do that by using the WorldWide Telescope. (Thanks to Alyssa Goodman for bringing it to our attention.) In this TED Talk introduction, Roy Gould makes the modest suggestion that you explore the nooks and crannies of the universe: