Presentation #111.01 in the session The Diffuse Gas in the Milky Way I: Local Constraints from 3D Dust Mapping.
Thanks to the ongoing revolution in our ability to understand the structure of the Milky Way near the Sun made possible by 3D dust mapping and Gaia, we are in the process of synthesizing not just a 3D image, but a 3D movie of how our local Milky Way came to be as it is today. The goal of MilkyWay3D.org, and the technology enabling it, called “LIVE Astro,” is to share the data, software, and results being used to create this new 3D view of our local Milky Way, with researchers, educators, and the general public. The talk will explain what has been done so far to make data and tools available, by demonstrating and explaining the LIVE-env.org (http://LIVE-env.org) and MilkyWay3D.org (http://MilkyWay3D.org) websites. Accomplishments of members of our team already include: several key research findings (e.g about the Radcliffe Wave, Perseus-Taurus Supershell, Star Formation on the Local Bubble, and Galactic weather); a variety visualization and software advances (e.g. glue, interactive and augmented reality figure technologies); and also work brining our 3D view of the Milky Way to the public via NASA-sponsored educational efforts (e.g. Cosmic Data Stories, Planetarium Shows at the AMNH) and the popular press (e.g. via Sky & Telescope). A key goal of offering this talk will be to recruit the meeting-in-a-meeting participants—especially those interested in open science—into this combined research/infrastructure/education community effort.
More about the tech: LIVE Environments’ longer name is “Linkable Interactive Visualization and Exploration Environments,” and “LIVE Astro,” is the astronomy-specific version of LIVE. MilkyWay3D.org (http://MilkyWay3D.org) is the “demonstrator” project for the LIVE approach, which sets as its goal *not* the re-invention of existing data storage systems and software, but instead their seamless integration in customizable online environments. The author list here does not include the full MilkyWay3D.org membership - please see the website for more.