Type of site | Web mapping |
|---|---|
| Available in | Multilingual |
| URL | sky-map |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | Yes |
| Current status | Active |
Sky-Map.org (orWikiSky.org) is awiki and interactive skymap that covers over half a billion known celestial bodies.[1] WikiSky is designed, in part, as awiki. Users can edit information about different stars by writing articles, adding Internet links, uploading images, or creating a special interest group for a specific task.[2][3]
The website, although still available for users to visit, has shown little activity since 2010. A significant amount ofvandalism, in the form of adding unrecognizedproper names to stars, exists and is still occurring as of now.[when?][citation needed]
WikiSky can represent the sky using data from several surveys, includingGALEX,DSS, andSDSS. In each mode, the user can access the name and a brief description of visible space objects. This can be used to access more detailed information, including articles and different photo images. It also has its ownAPI so that code can be written to access maps, objects’ information and SDSS data.
Some images used in WikiSky, such as the ones from Digitized Sky Survey (DSS2), are available for non-commercial use.[4] The DSS data rights are held by multiple institutions.[5]Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) images are now in thepublic domain, although earlier data releases were for non-commercial use only.[6] Images from theHubble Space Telescope (HST),Spitzer Space Telescope (infrared), andGALEX (ultraviolet) are in the public domain asworks by the US government.[citation needed]
