Microsoft unveiled Worldwide Telescope this week. Its a 'telescope for the masses' -  letting anyone with the internet see images from the world's most powerful instruments. Some say it could be 'like the human genome project' in scope. It is exciting to see science opened up in new ways. Like most people, I don't know my black hole from my red dwarf, so it might seem unlikely that 'the masses' will be making any startling discoveries any time soon. But pro-am astronomers have made some striking contributions to the field in the past. And other open public platforms like Innocentive for solving science's challenges are becoming more common.

I would have downloaded it and taken a look if it hadn't required more memory than my dinky little computer could manage. So I looked at Google Sky instead. Apparently its less interactive but it still made me feel like Captain Kirk.

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