SI2-SSE: Visualizing Astronomy Repository Data using WorldWide Telescope Software Systems

There are two main outcomes of this project. The first is a port of the WorldWide Telescope (WWT) from a standalone Windows OS VR application to a Web-based portal. The second outcome is the development of astronomy focused data management and processing on the CyVerse computational infrastructure. The WorldWide Telescope (WWT) provides a powerful data-visualization interface for data exploration and presentation. Through the open source WWT visualization software systems, this project enables the broader use of institutional and community-based, researcher-oriented astronomy data repositories and computational tools. The astronomy researcher workflow incorporates depositing data to make it discoverable through search and browsing, accessible through open access, actionable through connections to existing tools as well as community-developed tools running on CyVerse, and finally visualizing or citing data. We have added a cloud-based access to Jupyter Notebooks, R, JS9, and other tools for astronomy, Virtual Observatory compliant server and modified IPAC‚Firefly software for use by the James Web Space Telescope NIRCam.